Martins

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A01=David Foenkinos
Author_David Foenkinos
Autofiction
books about authors
books in translation
books set in France
books set in paris
Category=FBA
Category=FS
Category=FXR
Category=WH
character-driven novel
Compelling stories from real life
eq_bestseller
eq_fiction
eq_humour
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_modern-contemporary
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
Everyday life fiction
everyday life storytelling
family secrets novel
fiction about family dynamics
French books
French comedy
French fiction
French translations
funny books
human nature exploration
intergenerational relationships
literary exploration of banality
literary fiction about life
Madeleine character
modern existential fiction
novel about writing projects
novels about writing
octogenarian character
Ordinary life novel
Paris setting novel
Parisian neighborhood tale
Parisian street life
Parisian writer
Parisian writer story
secrets and hidden lives
Secrets of ordinary people
stories of ordinary people
struggling author protagonist
Struggling writer narrative
translated fiction
Unexpected life stories
up-lit
uplit
writing about ordinary lives
Writing about ordinary people
Writing inspiration Paris

Product details

  • ISBN 9781805333654
  • Dimensions: 129 x 198mm
  • Publication Date: 23 Oct 2025
  • Publisher: Pushkin Press
  • Publication City/Country: GB
  • Product Form: Paperback
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A disillusioned Parisian writer finds inspiration in the ordinary lives of his neighbours, the Martins.


'A charming, clever book' The Independent


Is it true that every life is the stuff of novels? Or are some people just too ordinary?

This is the question a struggling Parisian writer asks when he challenges himself to write about the first person he sees when he steps outside his apartment. Secretly hoping to meet the beautiful woman who occasionally smokes on his street, he instead sets eyes on octogenarian Madeleine. She's happy to become the subject of his project, but first she needs to put her shopping away...

Wondering if his project is doomed to be hopelessly banal, he soon finds himself tangled in the lives of Madeleine's family. Though calm on the surface, the Martins have secrets, troubles and woes, and the writer discovers that the most compelling story is that of an ordinary life.

David Foenkinos is the author of 17 novels which have been translated into 40 languages. His novel Delicacy was made into a film starring Audrey Tautou. He received the 2014 Prix Renaudot and Prix Goncourt des lycéens for Charlotte.

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