Jean-Luc Boujon (correspondent in Lyon), edited by Alexandre Dalifard / Photo credit: Magali Cohen / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP 20:07 p.m., November 14, 2023
Last Tuesday, the jury of the Prix Goncourt chose to award Jean-Baptiste Andrea's novel, "Veille sur elle", published by Editions de l'Iconoclaste. On Tuesday, a week after his coronation, the writer signed his novel in a cultural supermarket in Lyon where Europe 1 visited.Watching Over Her, the last Goncourt by Jean-Baptiste Andrea. A fresco spanning nearly 80 years, romantic and poetic, through twentieth-century Italy. A week after his coronation, the writer signed his novel on Tuesday afternoon in a cultural supermarket in Lyon. For the occasion, Europe 1 went to the site.
50,000 copies sold in just 4 days
About forty readers came to discover with great curiosity the smiling face of the author of the Goncourt 2023. "Thank you for giving a very warm welcome to Jean-Baptiste Andrea, winner of the Fnac and Goncourt Novel Prize for Watching Over Her," the announcer announced when he arrived. Jean-Baptiste Andrea, 52, who is writing his fourth novel, admits that he has been going through a whirlwind for the past week, including in his personal life. "I almost got divorced yesterday (Monday) when I got home, because I went straight back to the bookstore. But we've patched things up, everything is fine," he said ironically at first to Europe 1.
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"It's that feeling of recognition from your peers that made me dream when I was a kid. It's kind of an inner earthquake that was a little scary on the first day. I'm still figuring out what it means, but it's an infinite joy," admits the author. Jean-Baptiste Andrea is signing his book right now, much to the delight of Yves, a happy reader. "He's a really great guy. For me, what was rare was to enjoy so much. I read a lot of books from that fall, really, this is the one that delighted me the most and gave me the most pleasure in reading," says the reader.
This is confirmed, since it is a Goncourt that is off to a very good start in terms of sales. 50,000 copies were sold in just four days and a reprint of 300,000 copies is already in the works.