Synopses & Reviews
Finalist for the La Closerie des Lilas, Ouest-France, and Orange du Livre Prizes
When a young woman returns to her childhood home after her estranged father’s death, she begins to piece together the final years of his life. What changed him from a prominent left-wing journalist to a bitter racist who defended the murder of a defenseless African immigrant? Pascale Kramer, recipient of the 2017 Swiss Grand Prize for Literature, exposes a country gripped by intolerance and violence to unearth the source of a family’s fall from grace.
Set in Paris and its suburbs, and inspired by the real-life scandal of a French author and intellectual, Autopsy of a Father blends sharp observations about familial dynamics with resonant political and philosophical questions, taking a scalpel to the racism and anti-immigrant sentiment spreading just beneath the skin of modern society.
Review
“The novel haunts on all levels....Once read, this story is not forgotten.” Washington Independent Review of Books
Review
“Kramer’s novel examines bigotry in the intimate space of family, allowing for a powerfully close look at societal ills.” World Literature Today
Review
“In this global, political and social climate, the central ideological topic of [Autopsy of a Father] feels extremely urgent....Throughout, Kramer’s prose is taut and delicately observant.” Full Stop
About the Author
Pascale Kramer’s novel, Autopsy of a Father, is translated from the French by Robert Bononno, who has translated more than two dozen full-length works of fiction and nonfiction from the French and has taught translation at New York University and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He is a French American Foundation Translation Prize finalist and the recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts fellowships. He lives in New York.