Overview
- Mauvignier prevailed 6–4 over finalist Caroline Lamarche's 'Le Bel Obscur', leaving perceived favorite Emmanuel Carrère without the prize.
- The novel spans more than 700 pages, traces four generations across the World Wars, foregrounds women's roles, and consciously echoes 19th‑century models such as Zola.
- The Goncourt carries a symbolic €10 award yet confers major visibility and sales through its long-standing prestige and the distinctive red band in bookstores.
- This is Mauvignier's tenth novel, recognized for long, elegant sentences, with several recent works translated into Spanish by Anagrama.
- Soon after the Goncourt announcement, the Prix Renaudot went to Adélaïde de Clermont-Tonnerre for 'Je voulais vivre'.