Synopses & Reviews
A cautionary tale for a world in which social media has shattered the boundaries of intimacy.
The first time that Mélanie met Clara, she was stunned by Clara's sense of authority, and for her part, Clara was struck by Mélanie's pink, glittery nails, which shimmered in the dark. "She looks like a child," thought the first. "She looks like a doll," pondered the second.
These two women, both of the same generation and exposed to the same forms of media throughout their lives, could not be more different in adulthood. Mélanie is a social media superstar, broadcasting her children's daily lives on a family YouTube channel. Clara is a young police officer, assigned to the case after Mélanie's daughter Kimmy is abducted.
Traversing the Big Brother generation, the social media influencer generation, and right up to the 2030s, Delphine de Vigan offers a bone-chilling expos of a world where everything is broadcasted and monetized, even family happiness.
Review
"A captivating thriller reminiscent of The Truman Show." — Elle
Review
"Blending suspense and social commentary, de Vigan's tale offers various perspectives on social media and its constructs of reality." — Booklist
Review
"An intelligent and affecting look at the void that lurks inside our social media fantasies of domestic bliss." — Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
About the Author
Delphine de Vigan has published several novels, a number of which were nominated and won major literary prizes in France, including the Prix Goncourt, Prix Goncourt des lycéens, Prix Renaudot, Prix de Libraires, Prix du roman Fnac and Gran prix de lectrices de Elle. She lives in Paris.
Alison Anderson's translations for Europa Editions include novels by Sélim Nassib, Amélie Nothomb, and Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt. She is the translator of Muriel Barbery's New York Times bestseller, The Elegance of the Hedgehog.