The-Last-of-our-kind
2020 Longlist

The Last of Our Kind

Translated from the French by Adriana Hunter
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ABOUT
THE BOOK

Werner Zilch was adopted as an infant, and knows nothing of his biological family. But when, in 1970s New York, he meets the family of Rebecca, the woman he has fallen in love with, a mysterious link means he must uncover the truth of his past, or run the risk of losing her. Spanning 1945 Dresden, the Bavarian Alps and uncovering Operation Paperclip, this is a riveting novel of family and love that seamlessly blends fact with fiction.

 

 

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR Adélaïde
de Clermont-Tonnerre

Adelaide de Clermont-Tonnerre, 33, former student of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, tried her hand at investment banking in France and Mexico before becoming a columnist and journalist. She is currently section editor of the cultural pages of the magazine Point de Vue.

Adelaide de Clermont-Tonnerre, 33, former student of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, tried her hand at investment banking in France and Mexico before becoming a columnist and journalist. She is currently section editor of the cultural pages of the magazine Point de Vue.

ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Adriana
Hunter

Adriana Hunter is an award-winning translator of French. Since “discovering” the first book she was to translate in 1998, she has translated more than 80 books, mostly works of literary fiction. She has won the Scott-Moncrieff prize and the French-American Foundation and Florence Gould Foundation translation prize, and was shortlisted twice for the Independent foreign fiction prize (now the Man Booker international prize). In 2013, she won the 27th Annual Translation Prize founded by the French-American Foundation and the Florence Gould Foundation for her translation of Electrico W by Hervé Le Tellier (2013). She is also a contributor to Words Without Borders. She lives in Kent, England.

Adriana Hunter is an award-winning translator of French. Since “discovering” the first book she was to translate in 1998, she has translated more than 80 books, mostly works of literary fiction. She has won the Scott-Moncrieff prize and the French-American Foundation and Florence Gould Foundation translation prize, and was shortlisted twice for the Independent foreign fiction prize (now the Man Booker international prize). In 2013, she won the 27th Annual Translation Prize founded by the French-American Foundation and the Florence Gould Foundation for her translation of Electrico W by Hervé Le Tellier (2013). She is also a contributor to Words Without Borders. She lives in Kent, England.

NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS

Werner a young businessman met and fell in love with Rebecca a painter from the New York pop-art milieu. Their love is endangered by grave family secrets linked with horrific events of the WW2 and the terrible aftermath. This book is partly a historical fiction, partly a family story with a mystery written in elegant prose of the classic style.  Katona József Library of Bács-Kiskun County, Hungary

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Country
France
Original Language
French
Publisher
Hodder and Stoughton
Translator
Adriana Hunter
Translation
Translated from the French by Adriana Hunter

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