The Margot Affair

A New York Times Editor's Choice

“A raw, honest account of the tenderness and cruelty that lurks between mothers and daughters. Lemoine illuminates the ways in which violence and care are strung through generations like nerves and sinews. A brave portrayal of love in all of its complexities that questions whether we should endeavour to hold onto the people we love, or whether we should let them go.”

An unusual and accomplished first novel . . . moves in intriguing leaps and twists. Economist
Absorbing... The emotional mapping of the novel is intricate and precise... Lemoine captures with painful accuracy the clumsy ignorance of adolescence. Financial Times
Missing Paris? Look no further than this atmospheric coming-of-age tale . . . I News
Gorgeous . . . very French. . . in lush, lyrical prose that perfectly captures the heightened emotion and confusion of being a young woman with a bruised heart and limited experience . . . It asks the ultimate question about this most complicated of relationships: What will a mother do for her child? Sarah Lyall, New York Times
Deftly crafted, thoughtfully observed, this absorbing coming-of-age novel explores the tense and complex relationship between Anouk and Margot, the notions of family and motherhood, deceit and betrayal. Fanny Blake, Daily Mail
Drumming with tension, The Margot Affair grapples with the complexity of familial love. Marie Claire
Jessica Andrews, author of Saltwater
Subtle, beautiful, serious. Karen Russell, author of Swamplandia
Another coming-of-age tale... about the lasting effects of deceit and betrayal. Herald
Undoubtedly one of the top literary fiction reads of the summer, this brilliant debut, touted as a 'coming of age' novel, is a wonderful study of the mother-daughter relationship. Women's Weekly
An engaging examination of youth, age and cruelty. A stimulating and provocative read. Irish Times

Sanae Lemoine was born in Paris to a Japanese mother and French father and raised in France and Australia. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and her MFA at Columbia University. She now lives in New York.

A New York Times Editor's Choice A Herald's Best Summer Book 'An unusual and accomplished first novel . . . moves in intriguing leaps and twists.' Economist 'Gorgeous' New York Times 'Grapples with the complexity of familial love.' Marie Claire French teenager Margot is the illegitimate daughter of a prominent stage actress and an influential politician. The comings and goings of their unconventional family, in a small Parisian apartment, cast her whole life under a veil of secrecy and shame.One summer, Margot decides to exercise her own agency when she meets a well-regarded journalist whose trust seems surprisingly easy to gain. But as Margot is drawn into an adult world, she learns how one impulsive decision can change the contours of her life, and the lives of those around her, in ways she could never have imagined.In this simmering debut Sanae Lemoine explores private and public faces, truth and deceit, love and persuasion. The Margot Affair is a novel about the bone-deep bond between mothers and daughters, the devotion and betrayal of friendship and the dangers of pushing beyond the boundaries of a life lived in the shadows.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.