Artifice: An astonishing French thriller with a jaw-dropping twist

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'A breathtaking book confirming Claire Berest's inexhaustible talent as a storyteller' Elle

'An astonishing thriller' Liberation

Something strange is happening in museums across Paris.

A white horse appears in the library of the Pompidou Centre. Then stuffed wolves are displayed in a gallery, dressed in fine garments and drinking tea.

The authorities are baffled - particularly when investigations lead to suspended police officer Abel Bac. Since being dismissed for unknown reasons, Abel has been wandering the streets of Paris, haunted by a recurring nightmare and hoping to lose himself in the city.

But following Abel leads to Mila, the mysterious artist at the heart of this enigma - and to a hidden darkness rising to the surface of the city.

As soon becomes clear, nothing about this chain of events has been a coincidence...

Translated by Sophie Lewis.

'Terrific! Set in modern Paris, this literary thriller invigoratingly combines questions of identity, shenanigans in the art world, love and murder' MICHELE ROBERTS

'Deliciously unique and unpredictable ... this novel blossoms like a poisonous flower' Le Journal du Dimanche

Reviews

A glowing, cinematic thriller, propelled throughout by zippy, electric writing, which builds in pace and intensity until reaching an ingenious, twisting finale * Buzz Magazine *
A breathtaking book confirming Claire Berest's inexhaustible talent as a storyteller * Elle *
An astonishing thriller ... full of mystery and dark humour * Libration *
Deliciously unique and unpredictable ... this novel blossoms like a poisonous flower * Le Journal du Dimanche *
A cleverly crafted novel made up of trompe l'oeil, red herrings, and mistaken identities. Dreamlike and dark ... unique * Le Figaro *
The writing is skilful, the narrative propels us forward ... a scintillating fire of many colours * Page *
An intense thriller where performance art intersects with tragedy ... brilliant and captivating * Le Plerin *
Spellbinding * Notre Temps *

Author Bio

CLAIRE BEREST is a writer from Paris. In 2019, her novel Rien n'est noir about the life of Frida Kahlo won Elle's Grand Prix des lectrices. With her sister Anne, she is also the author of Gabriele, a critically-acclaimed biography of her great-grandmother, Gabriele Buffet-Picabia, Marcel Duchamp's lover and muse. She is the great-granddaughter of the painter Francis Picabia.

SOPHIE LEWIS is a literary editor and translator from French and Portuguese into English. She has translated works by Jules Verne, Marcel Ayme, Violette Leduc, Leila Slimani and Joao Gilberto Noll, among others. Her translations have been shortlisted for the Scott Moncrieff and Republic of Consciousness prizes, and longlisted for the International Booker Prize.