Epic Annette: A Heroine's Tale

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Epic Annette: A Heroines Tale is the story of real-life Anne Beaumanoir, a courageous, brilliant woman born in Brittany in 1923. Guided by a passion for justice and a fervent belief in self-determination she joined the French Resistance and moved to Paris at the age of nineteen, where she saved the lives of two Jewish children.

She married and settled into post-war Marseille, giving birth to two sons, but put that comfortable life at risk by supporting the Algerian FLN in France, resulting in her being imprisoned in 1959 while pregnant with a third child. After making a dramatic escape she then served in the Ministry of Health under newly-independent Algerias first president Ben Bella until his overthrow in 1965. Having been found guilty in absentia and sentenced to ten years in prison, she lived in exile in Switzerland until an amnesty allowed her to return to France.

In a series of Homeric asides, Anne Weber discusses the ethical and philosophical aspects of Annettes life choices. She resembles the great Mediterranean heroes Odysseus and Aeneas; her character is her destiny, peripatetic, always exploring, ultimately not tragic but not without costly personal sacrifice.

It pushes linguistic, narrative and genre conventions to their limits, while posing big ethical questions, as its heroines idealism comes up against dirty realpolitik. TLS Review of the German Edition

Reviews

'Annette is a rare heroine whose fierce courage almost demands an unusual, and beautiful, account of her life. She stood out in life and this epic will ensure that she is honoured in death. She deserves nothing less.'
Anne Sebba, author of Les Parisiennes

'A bold and moving exploration of the ethics of heroism.'
Times Literary Supplement (review of the German Edition)

'A riveting and highly original retelling of the life of Annette Beaumanoir.'
The Bookseller

'A novel about courage, resilience, and the struggle for freedom.'
German Book Prize Judges

'[Anne Weber makes] the warmth and vibrant energy of a unique, very individual life palpable.'
Die Berliner Zeitung

'It pushes linguistic, narrative and genre conventions to their limits, while posing big ethical questions, as its heroine's idealism comes up against dirty realpolitik.'
Times Literary Supplement (review of the German Edition)

'A reading delight from start to finish.'
Die Sddeutsche Zeitung

Author Bio

Anne Weber is aGerman-Frenchauthor, translator into both French and German and self-translator. She studied in Paris and worked for several publishers.

Anne Weber started writing andpublishing in French, but immediately translated her first bookIdainventelapoudreinto German asIdaerfindetdasSchiepulver. Since then she has written each of her books inFrenchandGerman.

Herself-translationsare often published at the same time inFranceandGermany. In 2005 she received the 3Sat award at theFestival of German-Language Literature. For hertranslationofPierreMichonshe received a European translation award, theEuropischerbersetzerpreisOffenburg. She was awarded the 2020German Book Prize forAnnette, ein Heldinneneposwhich has sold more than 200,000 copies.