The readers' room - Antoine Laurain

With six previous novels in English amassing sales of over 180,000 copies, and translations of his work available in more than 20 languages, Antoine Laurain is one of France's most successful exports. His first novel in English, The President's Hat, was chosen for ABA Indies Introduce and the Waterstones Book Club in 2013. The Red Notebook was an Indie Next choice and a MIBA bestseller, and was selected by Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, as one of her lockdown reads in April 2020. Antoine was an Author of the Day at London Book Fair in 2019. He has toured the UK several times, most recently for a sold-out evening of wine and books in London, and has close ties with bookshops including Waterstones Harrogate, Daunt, Mr B's and Toppings.

Antoine's novels have been praised in the press as 'the very quintessence of French romance' (The Times) and 'lovely, clever, funny and soaked in fabulous Parisian atmosphere ... the perfect French holiday read' (Daily Mail). Publishers Weekly chose Vintage 1954 as a summer pick and Shelf Awareness for Readers recommended the 'light and entertaining time-travel treat' to its more than 300,000 email subscribers.

Less whimsical, but no less witty and charming than Vintage 1954, and still with a hint of magic in the resolution of the plot, Antoine's new novel The Readers' Room sees the author reach the peak of his powers. An ode to the world of French books, it shares the romantic Parisian feel and quirky charm of Antoine's bestseller The Red Notebook, as well as such hits as The Little Paris Bookshop, but with a darker edge. Published in France in January 2020, where L'Express have selected it as a highlight of the spring publishing season, the book will be one of Gallic's autumn superleads with a simultaneous UK hardback and export trade paperback publication.

In common with many of Antoine's books, the plot revolves around a quest to solve a mystery associated with an object, in this case the manuscript of a novel. The mystery goes a step further this time, with a criminal case to be investigated - though we're left with the message that some mysteries cannot be solved. The element of intrigue and disturbing secrets, combined with entertaining literary cameos and a love story, will make this novel appealing to fans of cosy crime, while the author's dry humour and essentially optimistic story of triumph over adversity will please fans of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and offbeat, bittersweet romances like One Day.