Author(s): Lucie Paye (translated by Natasha Lehrer)

Novel | Translated fiction | France | Les Fugitives

A painter obsessively attempts to depict a mysterious female figure who keeps on appearing under his brush. An anonymous woman addresses letters to an absent loved one. Through deeply felt and moving images, Absence dramatises the role of the unconscious in artistic creation and the power of unconditional love. 
In this masterful debut reminiscent of Rear Window, Lucie Paye weaves an intrigue that tells of redemption and the lies which destroy lives, all the while directing her reader, and her characters, with the deftness of the Master of Suspense.
Paperback original with French reverse flaps. Lilac endpaper, B-format, 150 pages. Original cover illustration by Anaïs Mims

REVIEW: ‘Enigmatic and magnetic… An elusive novel, its heartbeat muffled and secretive. Its oscillations are at first intriguing, then captivating, and finally mesmerising. The book’s pulse goes to the reader’s head like a strong liquor sipped slowly.’ – Le Matricule des Anges
‘In her first novel Lucie Paye sets words to the page with a fine brush… Nothing is overworked, least of all pain. Paye appreciates the half-lights, and her delicate style favours these nuanced feelings. Within these pages is a melancholy and disquiet in the ‘Pessoan’ sense of the word, but they are never overcast […] ‘Painters, like writers, are thieves. They transfer and transport landscapes, in their dreams and in their worlds,’ wrote painter Kees van Dongen. Rarely have these words seemed so true as when reading this novel, at the confluence of the two art forms. Paye’s novel explores the link between the artist and their work, through the unconscious and the creative process. It also examines the relation of the viewer of a work, projecting emotions and desires onto it – and seeing in it what we want to see. Our personal perspective can distance us from the artist’s own intentions. It doesn’t matter, the main thing is to have felt something, to have been given access to the things of which, without art, we could never have dreamed.’ – Le Figaro Littéraire
‘In this romantic epic, Lucie Paye choreographs a ballet of clues in a world where people take time - to write letters, to linger in a museum, to be absorbed by a detail that transforms their perception of a painting, of life. The author perfectly describes the creative process and the artist's inner turmoil. A novel that joins the eternal literary quest to uncover the mysteries of art.’ – AirFrance Madame

Author Biography: Lucie Paye's debut novel Les coeurs inquiets was published in 2020 to critical acclaim during the first lockdown in France in Editions Gallimard's prestigious Collection Blanche. Further to her studies at the Ecole du Louvre, she published several works on garden history. She lived in California for several years and now lives in London with her two children.