Eleganța ariciului

A quiet concierge makes friends with a bright twelve-year-old girl. They live in a grand block of flats in Paris. Both hide what they know and seem to lead plain lives. As they grow close, they find beauty in small things. Their bond calls into question how people judge social roles.

Muriel Barbery’s novel looks at friendship, love, art, and meaning. It uses humour to ask how people live. It suits readers who like fiction that probes hidden inner lives. The story questions social rules and fixed views of others. It shows how a shallow world can miss wisdom and beauty.

Barbery is a French writer born in Casablanca. She studied philosophy at the École normale supérieure in Paris. She earned a doctorate in that field. This was her second novel. It made her known around the world. Her work draws on questions of beauty, feeling, and meaning.

This edition forms part of the Babel series. Ion Doru Brana translated L'elegance du Herisson.