The Elegance of the Hedgehog - by Muriel Barbery (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A moving, funny, triumphant novel that exalts the quiet victories of the inconspicuous.

In an elegant apartment building in the heart of Paris, Renée, the concierge, scrutinizes the vacuous lives of its well-to-do tenants. Outwardly she conforms to every stereotype of the concierge: plump, cantankerous, addicted to television. Yet, unbeknownst to her employers, Renée is a sophisticated autodidact who adores art, philosophy, music, and Japanese culture.

Then there's Paloma, twelve years old. Convinced of the meaninglessness of life, she's decided to end her own on her thirteenth birthday. Until then she will continue behaving as everyone expects her to behave, hiding behind the mask of an average pre-teen.

Paloma and Renée hide both their true talents and their finest qualities from a world they suspect will not appreciate them. The arrival in the building of a wealthy Japanese tenant changes a delicate and fragile equilibrium.

"This story, like all great tales, will break your heart, but it will also make you realize--or remember--that sometimes the pain is worth it."--Chicago Sun-Times

Review Quotes

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

Washington Post - Christian Science Monitor - Barnes and Noble - Chicago Sun-Times

A TOP TEN NATIONAL INDIE BESTSELLER

"Gently satirical, exceptionally winning and inevitably bittersweet."--Michael Dirda, The Washington Post

"A high-wire performance."--Los Angeles Times

"The Elegance of the Hedgehog is about love. But not the sappy, head-over-heels variety. Rather, it's about the love of one's friends. It's about the love you can experience when you connect with strangers. And it's about the possibility--but just that--of romantic love."--The Huffington Post

"Both [of the book's protagonists] create eloquent little essays on time, beauty and the meaning of life, Renée with erudition and Paloma with adolescent brio."--The New York Times

"Astute social satire and abstruse German philosophy are rarely found together, but here they are in this ingenious work of fiction."--The Boston Globe

"Barbery's sly wit, which bestows lightness on the most ponderous cogitations, keeps her tale aloft."--The New Yorker

"[The Elegance of the Hedgehog tells] a beautiful story with a large cast of fascinating, complicated characters whose behavior is delightfully unpredictable."--The Wall Street Journal

"This fable of love, friendship and the beauty of art not only gives innocence a voice, but also shows what a powerful novel can do: transport, educate and, ultimately, console."--The Toronto Star

"Hedgehog is really an international book, focused as it is on universal topics of childhood, philosophy, love, and art."--The Daily Beast

"By turns very funny (particularly in Paloma's sections) and heartbreaking, Barbery never allows either of her dour narrators to get too cerebral or too sentimental. Her simple plot and sudden denouement add up to a great deal more than the sum of their parts."--Publishers Weekly

"With its refined taste and political perspective, [The Elegance of the Hedgehog] is an elegant, light-spirited and very European adult fable."--Kirkus Reviews

"The formula that made more than half a million readers in France fall in love with this book has, among other ingredients: intelligent humor, fine sentiments, an excellent literary and philosophical backdrop, good taste, sophistication and substance."--La Repubblica (Italy)

"Enthusiastically recommended for anyone who loves books that grow quietly and then blossom suddenly."--Marie Claire(France)

"An exquisite book in the form of a philosophical fable that has enchanted hundreds of thousands of readers." --ELLE (Italy)