Starting with just a postcard Anne Berest sets off in search of her ancestors who died in Auschwitz. A true story, an historical narrative and a new type of thriller that has "deeply touched anyone who has read it," says Heidi Warneke, director of foreign rights at Grasset who has sold the rights in a dozen countries. 

 

BIEF: Could you briefly introduce this novel and its author?

 

Heidi Warneke: It was in January 2003 when amidst the stack of traditional greeting cards in Anne Berest parents’ mailbox, was a strange postcard. It was unsigned - its author wanting to remain anonymous. The Opéra Garnier on one side, and on the other, only four first names: those of Anne Berest's mother’s grandparents, as well as her those of aunt and uncle. All four had died in Auschwitz in 1942. The Postcard is a police-like investigation into the identity of the author of the anonymous postcard which gives rise to a family saga; an exploration into the significance of the word "Jew" in secular life, and a search for family origins. 

Anne Berest is the author of several novels: La fille de son père (Seuil, 2010), Les patriarches (Grasset, 2012), Sagan 1954 (Stock, 2014), Recherche femme parfait (Grasset, 2016), Gabriële, co-written with her sister Claire (Stock, 2017). She is also a playwright: La visite, Les filles de nos filles (Actes Sud, 2020) and a television screenwriter.

 

BIEF: This is a book about the deportation of a Jewish family to Auschwitz, amongst other things. What is special about it? What is it about the approach taken to the subject that is so seductive?

 

H.W.: We think that it’s the original approach to the subject that has seduced and intrigued both French readers as well as our foreign partners, that is: the quest for who sent this postcard and why; the questions the postcard raises in the narrator; that the suspense carried through to the last page is the narrative thread that unravels the family drama as well as the horror of the Holocaust through a fluid, exciting and very moving story. Everything is intertwined and the author weaves in multiple locations, multiple time periods and several questions about the origins and consequences of anti-Semitism. And, finally, the superbly managed central themes such as family and the search for origins are universal. 

 

BIEF: The novel received the Prix Renaudot des Lycéens in 2021. Why does this book speak to young readers? 

 

H.W.: There are probably several reasons. The novel tells the story of the most significant and devastating tragedy of the twentieth century through very identifiable characters: the Rabinovitch children were deported to Auschwitz when they were high school students, this allows young readers to see themselves in the protagonists. The novel switches between past and present through a quest that starts from family history and origins which leads readers to reflect deeply on their own identity. And, finally, the novel has a pedagogical dimension, developed through the narrator's relationship with her mother Lélia and the factual questions she asks.

 

BIEF: How have the press, booksellers and readers in France reacted to this book?

 

H.W.: The Postcard was an immediate success with readers, booksellers and the media. It touches everyone who reads it deeply. The novel was included in the second selection of the Prix Goncourt and short-listed for the Prix Renaudot before being awarded the Renaudot Prix des Lycéens. It has gotten exceptional media coverage, from literary critics of the major dailies, news magazines, and women's press. 

 

BIEF: How many copies have you sold in France and in which countries have you sold the translation rights?

 

H.W.: Net sales of the current French edition are over 150,000 copies and The Postcard is still on best seller lists six months after its publication. The rights have been sold in the following languages: Spanish (world, Lumen), Danish (Alpha Forlag), English (UK/USA, Europa Editions), German (Berlin Verlag), Italian (Edizioni E/O), Japanese (Hayakawa), Romanian (Trei), Dutch (Nieuw Amsterdam), Lithuanian (Baltos Lankos), Polish (Wydawnicza Foksal), Hebrew (Modan).

 

BIEF: The novel was published in 2021 in the midst of a pandemic, a period without any book fairs or exhibitions. Did you develop any special strategies for selling rights during this period? What have you done to convince foreign publishers about this book? Was there one particular sale that facilitated the others?

 

H.W.: The Postcard was prospected by scouts and publishers who had previously published Anne Berest work before it was released as well as several high-quality international publishers. We presented the novel as a "favorite" and a "must read", the goal being to make it clear that The Postcard was THE important novel of the 2021 literary season.  The Postcard has undeniable qualities that are both narrative and literary. However, it also presents an obstacle, it is over 500 pages long which represents a high translation cost. The challenge for us was to get our partners to consider this voluminous novel and not to exclude it from the outset for cost considerations. We needed to demonstrate that it had the potential to seduce both critics and booksellers and to conquer the general public. 

 

BIEF: What have been the reactions to this work internationally?

 

H.W.: We have received wonderful "love letters" from foreign publishers, which touched the author a lot, and offers from several. Foreign publishers have been, on the whole, very enthusiastic.

 

Interview by Katja Petrovic 
March 2022