Welcome to a recent French Writer, Romain Puértolas, who literally burst on the scene from October 2013 when his first book ‘L’extraordinaire voyage du fakir qui était resté coincé dans une armoire Ikea’ topped the French best seller list and was then translated into English as The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir who got trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe. I read this book back in 2013 and was enchanted by this highly imaginative story. You can get more info on this at ‘The Fakir‘
So when Marie-Claude met Him at the Paris book fair, she got me a signed copy of his latest book on audio ‘La petite fille qui avait avalé un nuage grand comme la Tour Eiffel’ Translated as ‘The Little Girl….’ Romain Puértolas writes his books in three to four weeks and does so on his cell phone! This in itself is quite remarkable.
His two books are quite incredible, stories passing from one fantastic part of a story to the next, a real ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’ but with humans. ‘The Little Girl…’ Is a story about the choice between good lies and bad truths, it involves Providence a post woman, a trip to Morocco to see a little girl dying from Cystic Fibrosis, a volcano in Iceland and an amazing journey.
This book, although not as mischievous as ‘The Fakir’ is equally satisfying and finally a pleasant read.
If you found this review useful remember to hit the like button
La Petite Fille….: First published in France by Le Dilettante in 2015
Le Fakir ….: First published in France by Le Dilettante in 2013
Translated into English as The Fakir …: by Sam Taylor and published in 2014 by Harvill Secker
South of Paris books 
I saw this book on the kitchen table!
Thank you for visiting my blog and liking my post. I love your site and can’t wait to share it with a friend of mine who is a French language teacher and a true francophone. Salut.
Thanks for your appreciation, I liked your review on the Death of Napoleon which I don’t remember so I checked out Simon Leys on Wikipedia, what a life! I’ll have to read some of his work
Pat