Born of No Woman

CrimeReads: Best International Crime Novel of the Year

In this gothic tale reminiscent of Faulkner’s Light in August, a young woman’s journals divulge the horrible secrets of a wealthy family in late nineteenth-century rural France.

Before he is called to bless the body of a woman at the nearby asylum, Father Gabriel receives a strange, troubling confession: hidden under her dress he will find the notebooks that contain Rose’s harrowing story.   

At fourteen years old, Rose is sold to a rich man by her father, a farmer unable to support her & her three younger sisters. Traded for a handful of coins, she becomes the property of the master & is taken away without warning to her new home. This isolated manor that seems like a castle to Rose, with the master’s formidable mother & his absent wife, immediately provokes a sense of unease. Rose soon becomes caught in their perverse web, unsure of how to escape & whom she can trust.
 
The English-language debut of critically acclaimed author Franck Bouysse, this exquisitely written novel is both a keen commentary on class & a chilling horror story. Deftly navigating the complexities of desire, abuse, compassion, & resilience, he has created a timeless portrait of human nature left to fester unseen.

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Franck Bouysse was born in France in 1965. He began his writing career in 2007 after working as a biology teacher. His novel Born of No Woman (Other Press, 2021) won numerous literary prizes in France, including the Elle Readers’ Grand Prize, the Booksellers’ Prize, & the Prix Babelio. His following novel, Wind Drinkers (Other Press, 2023), won the Prix Jean Giono.

Delphine Minoui, a recipient of the Albert-Londres Prize for her reporting on Iraq & Iran, is a journalist & Middle East correspondent for Le Figaro. She is the author of several books in French.