Hunting and Gathering

Jul 1, 2025 4:29 AM

Author:Anna Gavalda

Camille is doing her best to disappear. She barely eats, works at night as a cleaner and lives in a tiny attic room. Downstairs in a beautiful, ornate apartment, lives Philibert Marquet de la Durbellière, a shy, erudite, upper-class man with an unlikely flatmate in the shape of the foul-mouthed but talented chef, Franck. One freezing evening Philibert overcomes his excruciating reitcence to rescue Camille, unconscious, from her garret and bring her into his home.

As she recovers Camille learns more about Philibert; about Franck and his guilt for his beloved but fragile grandmother Paulette, who is all he has left in the world; and about herself. And slowly, this curious quartet of misfits all discover the importance of food, friendship and love.

Reviews

Enjoyable, well-paced and engaging

—— Lucille Houston , Times Literary Supplement

Like Amélie, Hunting and Gathering stops at nothing to make the reader feel good. Reading it reminded me of tucking into one of those beautifully constructed little cakes that you see in the windows of elegant French patisseries

—— Sunday Telegraph

A charming, romantic - and very French - novel

—— Rev'd Amber Pearson , Daily Mail

An elegant, ironic tale.. this will be a classic

—— Cosmopolitan

Gavalda's ability to reinvent the will-they-won't-they love story makes this a refreshing five-star read with real bite

—— Eve

Exhibits extraordinary originality

—— John Bayley , Independent

Saramago can transform banal sentiments into unexpected profundities

—— David McAllister , TLS

Earle seems to have little trouble expanding his range from a three-minute song to a 300-page narrative... And though the novel comes no closer to establishing the facts of Hank Williams's death, it certainly reveals a good deal of truth behind it

—— Alfred Hickling , Guardian

A witty, heartfelt story of hope, forgiveness and redemption

—— Booklist

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