The Cheffe

There’s the evenness of her prose, eminently polished, deliciously rhythmic, that seems to glide over the violence underneath … Who is this writer? And how did she get to be so good? * New York Review of Books *Rich, meandering … NDiaye excels at luscious, forensic descriptions of the ritualistic preparation of food * Mail on Sunday *A magnificent novel. A story of slow, violent beauty * Elle *Seared with incandescent prose, imbued with generosity, The Cheffe is the work of a supreme writer * Obs *A virtuoso novel that borrows from the classics to create the life of a cheffe. Subtly sublime * Les Inrockuptibles *The Cheffe joins the remarkable procession of intense, passionate heroines of Marie NDiaye * Télérama *

Marie NDiaye was born in France in 1967. She published her first novel at seventeen, and has won the Prix Femina (Rosie Carpe in 2001) and the Prix Goncourt (Three Strong Women, 2009). Her play “Papa Doit Manger” has been taken into the repertoire of the Comedie Fran aise. Her novel Ladivine (translated by Jordan Stump) was longlisted for the Booker International Prize in 2016, and in 2020 she was awarded the Prix Marguerite Yourcenar for her entire body of work. She lives in Paris.