France

Anna Gavalda

Born in Paris in 1970, Anna Gavalda published her first work in 1999 while working as a high school French teacher. Her first published work was the critically acclaimed collection of short stories I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me Somewhere, which sold over half a million copies in her native France and was published in the US by Penguin in 2003. Gavalda has since published three novels, all of which have become bestsellers across Europe. Her first novel, Someone I Loved, was adapted to film in 2009 and her novel Hunting and Gathering was made into a film starring Audrey Tatou and Daniel Auteil. Gavalda’s novels and short stories have been translated into over forty languages. She lives in Paris.

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Latest reviews

“With themes of loss, family, individuality, and the power of connection echoed across stories, this collection is a raw and tender ode to the human spirit.”

— Booklist, Apr 15 2019

"Life, Only Better is indeed that: slices of life with the richness of experience turned up."

— World Literature Today, May 6 2016

To be in your mid-twenties today often means being at a crossroads: the time between adventure and adulthood, between carelessness and commitment. In French author Anna Gavalda’s new work, “Life, Only Better,” (Europa, $17.00) this tumultuous time is on full display...

— Laura Farmer Reviews, Nov 27 2015

In “Mathilde,” one of the two novellas that make up this book, a 24-year-old lives with twin sisters and works as a negative commenter on various websites. Her anonymous comments send site owners running to her brother-in-law to improve their web presence.

— New York Times, Nov 25 2015