Valentine, the troubled daughter of a well-off but dysfunctional Parisian family, vanishes on her way to school. Inexperienced private detective Lucie Toledo is hired to find the missing teenager, and enlists the help of a formidable agent with a past, known to her friends as the Hyena. Their quest, from Paris to Barcelona and back, uncovers a rich cast of characters whose paths have crossed Valentine’s, leading to an alarming climax.
Part political thriller, part road-movie, part romance, the latest novel by subversive writer and film-maker Virginie Despentes won the Prix Renaudot 2010 for the pitiless gaze it directs at society in the age of the internet.
Editorial Reviews
Review
A gloriously fearless writer ― TLS
Despentes argues compellingly about women’s guilt, men’s power and the way that both are still abused three decades after the supposed triumph of feminism. ―
Independent on Sunday
A breath of fresh air, this vehement affirmation of liberty, this cry of a woman for women ―
Le Monde
A darkly disturbing road-trip thriller ―
Diva
Acerbic and perceptive, and there is a refreshingly transgressive spirit to much of what goes on here … Apocalypse Baby undoubtedly has a lot to say about modern France, and its depiction of the fraught nature of 21st-century living is assured and insightful. Sexual power, politics, literature, racism and violence all come under Despentes’s withering gaze — Doug Johnstone ―
Independent on Sunday Published On: 2013-06-30
Acerbic and perceptive, and there is a refreshingly transgressive spirit to much of what goes on — Doug Johnstone ―
Independent on Sunday Published On: 2013-06-30
An entertaining but uneasy mix of nihilistic dash and posh-Paris satire ―
London Review of Books Published On: 2013-10-18
Book Description
A fearlessly feminist roadtrip novel, packed with atmosphere and romance.
About the Author
Virginie Despentes was born in Paris in 1969, and now lives in Barcelona. Her previous books include Les Jolie Choses, Teen Spirit, Bye Bye Blondie and King Kong Theory. She co-directed a screen adaptation of her controversial novel, Baise-Moi in 2002.
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