Margins
The Martins book cover
The Martins
2020
First Published
3.63
Average Rating
242
Number of Pages

‘Go out into the street and the first person you see will be the subject of your next book.’ This is the challenge a struggling Parisian writer sets himself, imagining his next heroine might be the mysterious young woman who often stands smoking near his apartment … instead it’s octogenarian Madeleine. She’s happy to become the subject of his book – but first she needs to put away her shopping. Is it really true, the writer wonders, that every life is the stuff of novels, or is his story doomed to be hopelessly banal? As he gets to know Madeleine and her family, he’ll be privy to their secrets: lost loves, marital problems and workplace worries. And he’ll soon realise he is not the impartial bystander he intended to be, but a catalyst for major changes in the lives of his characters. Told with Foenkinos’s characteristic irony and self-deprecating humour, yet filled with warmth, The Martins is a compelling tale of the family next door which raises questions about what it means to be ‘ordinary’, and about the blurred lines between truth and fiction.

Avg Rating
3.63
Number of Ratings
3,554
5 STARS
17%
4 STARS
40%
3 STARS
34%
2 STARS
7%
1 STARS
2%
goodreads

Author

David Foenkinos
David Foenkinos
Author · 19 books
David Foenkinos (born 28 October 1974) is a French author and screenwriter. He studied literature and music in Paris. His novel La délicatesse is a bestseller in France.A film based on the book was released in December 2011, with Audrey Tautou as the main character.
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