The Elegance Of The Hedgehog

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery A moving
funny triumphant novel that exalts the quiet victories of
the inconspicuous among us. We are in the center of Paris
in an elegant apartment building inhabited by bourgeois
families. Ren?e the concierge is witness to the lavish but
vacuous lives of her numerous employers. Outwardly she
conforms to every stereotype of the concierge: fat
cantankerous addicted to television. Yet unbeknownst to
her employers Ren?e is a cultured autodidact who adores
art philosophy music and Japanese culture. With humor and
intelligence she scrutinizes the lives of the buildings
tenants who for their part are barely aware of her
existence. Then theres Paloma a twelve-year-old genius.
She is the daughter of a tedious parliamentarian a
talented and startlingly lucid child who has decided to
end her life on the sixteenth of June her thirteenth
birthday. Until then she will continue behaving as
everyone expects her to behave: a mediocre pre-teen high
on adolescent subculture a good but not an outstanding
student an obedient if obstinate daughter. Paloma and
Ren?e hide both their true talents and their finest
qualities from a world they suspect cannot or will not
appreciate them. They discover their kindred souls when a
wealthy Japanese man named Ozu arrives in the building.
Only he is able to gain Palomas trust and to see through
Ren?es timeworn disguise to the secret that haunts her.
This is a moving funny triumphant novel that exalts the
quiet victories of the inconspicuous among us.