The Forces - by Laura Vazquez (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A tour de force of a novel--blazingly original--and a visceral portrait of a young woman questioning the social order, from one of France's most important and prize-winning writers.

In The Forces, a young woman sets off on a journey. What follows is a wild dive into the depths of human experience - through formative childhood memories to the streets of an unnamed city; from an underworld of bars, dens, cults, and screens to the solace of nature. Every turn illuminates the forces that form our daily lives - the invisible structures at work on our language, our bodies, our beliefs, our labor, our desires.

At once philosophical and playful, and written in prose that feels in motion on the page, THE FORCES is a modern-day odyssey a book about life and lifeforce, about how to be and how to stay alive in a world where violence and tenderness collide endlessly. It is a novel unlike any other - one that challenges our vision of the world, and changes our perception of what fiction can do. It is a generation-defining novel from one of our most fearless writers.

Review Quotes

Praise for Laura Vazquez and The Forces:

"Laura Vazquez brings a breath of fresh air to literature. This book is unique, poetic and radical, funny and so beautiful that it brings tears to your eyes." --Édouard Louis

"An important voice that renews French literature." --Les Inrockuptibles

"If you're in search of an ultra-contemporary novel that shatters all the rules with inimitable humor and style to spare, look no further--she's arrived." --Blake Butler

"Shattering, ethereal, stupefying." --Libération

About the Author

Laura Vazquez is a leading figure in contemporary French literature and winner of the 2023 Prix Goncourt for poetry. The Forces was published in France in 2025, where it received the Prix des Inrocks, the Prix Décembre, and the Télérama Readers' Prize. She was recently awarded the 2026 Franz Hessel Prize for Contemporary Literature. She lives in Marseille, France.

John Lambert has translated works by Édouard Louis, Jean-Philippe Toussaint, and Emmanuel Carrère. He lives in Berlin.