The forecasts were difficult for the Goncourt. And it was the French novelist Brigitte Giraud who won ahead of Cloé Korman, Giuliano da Empoli, and Makenzy Orcel.
At 56, Brigitte Giraud returns to live fast (Flammarion) on the series of improbable events that led to the death of her husband, Claude, in a motorcycle accident in 1999. An intimate and personal novel, extremely touching, full of remorse more than tears, would have meant that the accident never took place.
“The Mage of the Kremlin” favorite of “20 Minutes” readers
A woman winner of the Goncourt is sufficiently rare to be underlined. Favorite Giuliano da Empoli, 49, who posted in April The Mage of the Kremlin on the exercise of power in Russia (Gallimard), was favored by our readers and by many literary journalists. But that was before he won the Grand Prix du roman from the French Academy. The president of the Académie Goncourt Didier Decoin recalled last year: “We must not forget our friends and allies who are the booksellers. If we give two prizes to a single book, that only makes one book in the window”.
Literary prizes are indeed a crucial economic issue. Le Goncourt guarantees sales in the hundreds of thousands. The Mage of the Kremlin, after very favorable reviews and more than six months in bookstores, is only in the process of reaching the 100,000 copies mark. And its three rivals published in August are still far from it. wish to live fast of Brigitte Giraud, with her Goncourt as a banner on her book, to achieve this very quickly.