The Elegance of the Hedgehog

The first time we read a book set in a place starting with the letter F, it was in Finland (The Summer Book by Tove Jansson.) This time we are going to France. Our book choice as we move around the reading alphabet for a second time is The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery.

Renée is the concierge of a grand Parisian apartment building. She maintains a carefully constructed persona as someone uncultivated but reliable, in keeping with what she feels a concierge should be. But beneath this facade lies the real Renée: passionate about culture and the arts, and more knowledgeable in many ways than her employers with their outwardly successful but emotionally void lives.

Down in her lodge, apart from weekly visits by her one friend Manuela, Renée lives with only her cat for company. Meanwhile, several floors up, twelve-year-old Paloma Josse is determined to avoid the pampered and vacuous future laid out for her, and decides to end her life on her thirteenth birthday. But unknown to them both, the sudden death of one of their privileged neighbours will dramatically alter their lives forever.

By turns moving and hilarious, this unusual novel was described by Le Figaro as ‘the publishing phenomenon of the decade’.

If you’d like to join us to discuss this novel, please contact us to reserve your place.

You may order a copy of the book HERE.