The Elegance of the Hedgehog

Muriel Barbery

Gallic Books, Limited, 2008 - Fiction - 320 pages

"Renee is the concierge of a grand Parisian apartment building on the Left Bank. To the residents she is honest, reliable and uncultivated--an ideal concierge. But Renee has a secret. Beneath this conventional facade she is passionate about culture and the arts, and more knowledgeable in many ways than her self-important employers. Down in her lodge, Renee is resigned to living a lie; meanwhile, several floors up, twelve-year-old Paloma Josee is determined to avoid a predictably bourgeois future, and plans to commit suicide on her thirteenth birthday. But the death of one of their privileged neighbours will bring dramatic change to number 7, Rue de Grenelle, altering the course of both their lives forever."--Back cover.

What people are saying

Review: The Elegance of the Hedgehog

User Review  - Pamela Pickering - Goodreads

2.5 stars Hmmm...what to say about a book written by someone who writes for herself, not others--she states "It's personal" yet she chooses to publish the book anyway? A book by a somewhat conflicted ...

Review: The Elegance of the Hedgehog

User Review  - Katsumi - Goodreads

It is one of those rare books with a special inner quality that makes you ponder over life in a way only very few others can. After turning the last page, I was left staring into space, feeling bereft ...

About the author

Writer and philosophy professor Muriel Barbery was born in Casablanca, Morocco on May 28, 1969 and raised in France. She attended the École Normale Supérieure de Fontenay-Saint-Cloud from 1990 to 1993 and then taught philosophy at the Université de Bourgogne, in a lycée, and at the Saint-Lô IUFM. Barbery has published the bestselling novels L'Élégance du hérisson (The Elegance of the Hedgehog) and Une Gourmandise (Gourmet Rhapsody).

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Elegance of the Hedgehog
• Author: Muriel Barbery
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: Gallic Books, Limited, 2008
• ISBN: 1906040184, 9781906040185
• Length: 320 pages
• Subjects: Fiction / General