The Elegance of the Hedgehog

Winner of the 2007 French Booksellers Prize. In this philosophical fairy tale, we meet Renee, a Paris hotel concierge, cantankerous and addicted to TV soaps whose only genuine attachment is to her cat, Leo. In her secret life she is a ferocious autodidact who furtively devours art, philosophy, music and Japanese culture. Then there's Paloma, a super-smart 12-year-old, talented, precocious, and startingly lucid though hiding behind a mask of mediocrity, who lives on the hotel's 5th floor. The two discover their kindred souls with the arrival of a new tenant who befriends them both, in this moving, witty, and redemptive novel. 325p.