Alors qu’elle a traversé la planète pour rejoindre le Japon, une femme franchit la cloison de verre de l’altérité et entre peu à peu dans l’agencement esthétique et spirituel des jardins et des temples de Kyôto. Jour après jour, guidée par celui qui fut l’assistant de son père disparu, ces promenades sont en elle autant de motifs à résonances, chambres d’échos, révélations minuscules puis essentielles de sa personnalité.

 Ce roman des origines est un voyage, une géographie secrète, en même temps qu’une transposition poétique de l’énigme du sentiment amoureux.

Rose has turned 40, but has barely begun to live. When the Japanese father she never knew dies and she finds herself an orphan, she leaves France for Kyoto to hear the reading of his will.

In the days before Haru’s last wishes are revealed, his former assistant, Paul, takes Rose on a tour of the temples, gardens and eating places of this unfamiliar city. Initially a reluctant tourist and awkward guest in her late father’s home, Rose gradually comes to discover Haru’s legacy through the itinerary he set for her, finding gifts greater than she had ever imagined.

This stunning novel from international bestseller Muriel Barbery is a mesmerizing story of second chances, of beauty born out of grief and roses grown from ashes.

The international publishing sensation, with sales of over 10 million copies worldwide, and shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award.

‘Resistance is futile … you might as well buy it before someone recommends it for your book group. Its charm will make you say yes’ The Guardian

‘Clever, informative and moving … this is an admirable novel which deserves as wide a readership here as it had in France.’ The Observer

Rene is the concierge of a grand Parisian apartment building. She maintains a carefully constructed persona as someone uncultivated but reliable, in keeping with what she feels a concierge should be. But beneath this facade lies the real Rene: passionate about culture and the arts, and more knowledgeable in many ways than her employers with their outwardly successful but emotionally void lives.
Down in her lodge, apart from weekly visits by her one friend Manuela, Rene lives with only her cat for company. Meanwhile, several floors up, twelve-year-old Paloma Josse is determined to avoid the pampered and vacuous future laid out for her, and decides to end her life on her thirteenth birthday. But unknown to them both, the sudden death of one of their privileged neighbours will dramatically alter their lives forever.

Renée ist 54 Jahre alt und lebt seit 27 Jahren als Concierge in der Rue de Grenelle in Paris. Sie ist klein, hässlich, hat Hühneraugen an den Füßen und ist seit längerem Witwe. Paloma ist 12, hat reiche Eltern und wohnt in demselben Stadtpalais. Hinreißend komisch und zuweilen bitterböse erzählen die beiden sehr sympathischen Figuren von ihrem Leben, ihren Nachbarn, von Musik und Mangas, Kunst und Philosophie. Die höchst unterhaltsame und anrührende Geschichte zweier Außenseiter, ein wunderbarer Roman über die Suche nach der Schönheit in der Welt.