The Last of Its Kind - (Literature in Translation) by Sibylle Grimbert (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

From award-winning French writer Sibylle Grimbert comesThe Last of Its Kind, a moving story of friendship, trust, respect, and the desire to endure and survive.

In 1835, Gus, a young zoologist, is sent to Iceland by the Natural History Museum of Lille to study North Atlantic fauna. It is there that he witnesses the bloody massacre of a colony of great auks. Amidst the violence, the curious researcher pulls a single wounded bird from the water, unaware that he has recovered what will eventually be the last of its kind. Gus brings the initially suspicious animal home with him to study it. Instead of a research specimen, he discovers the beauty and majesty of his new companion, whom he names Prosp, and the pair eventually develop an endearing mutual affection.

Over the next fifteen years, Gus comes to realize that he is closely observing something inconceivable: the extinction of a species. From there, a singular preoccupation is born, and the inevitable fate of his feathered friend eclipses everything else around him. Gus's burgeoning understanding, wonder, and obsession around the disappearance of a species and humankind's role in its erasure mirror some of our questions today about the future of the natural world and our place within it.

Review Quotes

"The Last of Its Kind is beyond beautiful--it's essential. What joy, what blessed relief to revel in the love at its core, to see through difference and look a fellow creature in the eye." --Alissa York, author of Far Cry

"At the heart of this beautiful, delicate, and ultimately tragic novel is the relationship between a man and a large flightless bird that seems absolutely real. Sibylle Grimbert has done something quite miraculous." --Cary Fagan, author of A Fast Horse Never Brings Good News

About the Author

ALESHIA JENSEN is a literary translator and former bookseller living in Tio'tia: ke/Montréal. A four-time finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for Translation, Jensen translates Quebec and French fiction and indie comics. Her translations include Remnants by Céline Huyghebaert, Prague by Maude Veilleux, in co-translation with Aimee Wall, as well as graphic novels by Mirion Malle, María Medem, and Camille Jourdy.

SIBYLLE GRIMBERT's eleventh novel, Le Dernier des siens (2022) was a finalist for the Femina, Renaudot, Femina Lycéens, and Renaudot Lycéens prizes, and the Grand Prix de l'Académie française. The book has been translated into many languages, including English as The Last of Its Kind (tr. by Aleshia Jensen), and an animated film is forthcoming. Grimbert is also a recipient of the prestigious Maurice Genevoix Prize from the Académie Française, the 30 Millions D'Amis Literary Prize, the François Sommer Prize, and the Joseph Kessel Prize. She lives in Paris.