La Falaise, published in September 2021 by Sarbacane, is Manon Debaye's first graphic novel. A powerful story about school bullying, difference and exclusion, where the gentle art style contrasts with the seriousness of the subject. 4,500 copies have been printed in France, and Italian and world English translation rights have already been sold.

Astrid has long blond hair. She comes from a model family, she is shy. Charlie has short brown hair. She is violent and lives with her mother and her new boyfriend whom Charlie hates. At school she is part of a group of boys who accept her because "she’s not a real girl". Together, they bully other students, like Astrid who immerses herself in reading and writing wonderful stories to escape the violence. Even though Charlie and Astrid are total opposites, they meet up near the cliff every day after school. Bound by a disturbing incipient lure and a dreadful blood pact; on Charlie's 13th birthday, they will commit suicide, together, hand in hand.

 

"Manon Debaye pushes these two 'blood sisters' to the edge of the cliff, in a graphic novel that is hypersensitive to vertiginous silences, where soul mates have trouble living and surviving," Le Soir, Belgium. In France, readers were also quickly seduced by the "story’s high-intensity and the subtlety with which Manon Debaye dissects the psychology of this critical age."

 

"A powerful story in the same vein as Virgin Suicides and Blue is the Warmest Color", according to les Editions Sarbacane that published the work in September 2021. 

 

"This book addresses the issues of adolescent malaise, the power of emotions, and social differences fairly, profoundly and subtly,” explains Sylvain Coissard, agent, who represents graphic novel and comics rights for les Editions Sarbacane as well as those of other publishers.  "It is above all a fictional story that is very fluid with incredibly elegant art and colors whose gentle style counterbalances the harshness of certain situations," Sylvain Coissard adds. He first highlighted this book in his newsletter before presenting it in Frankfurt. "I have pitched it almost systematically, for both YA and adult lists. I loved this book, and I sincerely shared the emotions as I read it, as did my 12-year-old daughter, who read it more like a thriller. The subject, the author’s sincerity, her graphic style and the apt tone" spoke to foreign publishers. Italian and English translations will be released next year, and the adventure has only just begun. Only 28 years old, Manon Debaye "is a very promising author, a real bet on the future," says Sylvain Coissard.

Interview by Katja Petrovic