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WINNER - Prix Goncourt des Lycéens・American Choix Goncourt
“Collette’s narrative raises weighty questions about the value of resistance and what it takes to shatter a generations-old tolerance of injustice. It’s a triumph.”—Publishers Weekly
A Masterful New Novel by Sandrine Collette, One of France’s Most Daring and Acclaimed Writers.
In a time outside time, in a world hemmed in by dark woods and silence, the villagers of Les Montées endure a life of hardship and submission. The land is stingy, the lords are merciless, and resistance is a dream dreamt by the village women.
Twin sisters Aelis and Ambre are born with an otherworldly beauty that turns heads and decides destinies. Ambre, childless and quietly suffering in a loveless marriage, adopts a wild, starving foundling who appears one day at the edge of the forest. Madeleine’s arrival unsettles the fragile order of Les Montées. She is fierce, brave, mysterious, magnetic, brilliant, and shockingly adept with an axe. One day, she slaughters a stag in defiance of the lord’s decrees. The land, the laws, and the lives of those around her tremble in response, and a new destiny begins to take root, one lit by rebellion and fed by ancient wounds.
Narrated by Bran, a boy Madeleine’s age who watches her with a mix of awe and dread, Madelaine Before the Dawn is a wild, lyrical novel about the inheritance of silence, the fire of female defiance, and the long-suppressed urge to upend the rules of a world written by men.
Collette’s storytelling evokes the brutal beauty of Zola’s Germinal and possesses the sweep of the novels of García Márquez. Hers is an elemental, undeniable voice, and with Madelaine Before the Dawn, she delivers the most ambitious novel of her career—an electrifying vision of revolt and resilience at the edge of civilization.
“Collette captures the brutal rhythms of medieval village life with expertise... Against these cruel banalities stands Madelaine—lovely, unbroken, and forged for heroism by a lifetime of disappointments mixed with unexpected joys.”—Foreword Reviews
“The prose soars, delivering shimmering men, women and children caught in a never-ending cycle of labor in fields... Madelaine Before the Dawn is a brilliant social novel, a stern exploration of class divisions and structure, and the role women play.”—Compulsive Reader
“Collette’s narrative raises weighty questions about the value of resistance and what it takes to shatter a generations-old tolerance of injustice. It’s a triumph.”—Publishers Weekly
“A dazzling, incantatory novel. Collette sets her puppet world swirling in a macabre, captivating ballet.”—Le Point
“Sandrine Collette rises to the pinnacle of her art.”—Le Parisien
“An intense and harrowing novel.” —Femme Actuelle
“Overflowing with life.” —Télérama
“A brilliant tour de force.” —La Vie
“Simply impressive.”—Lire Magazine
“Collette is at the height of her powers.”—Version Femina
“Dazzling.”—Point de Vue
“An unparalleled storytelling talent.”—L'OBS