Muriel Barbery

Born on 28 May 1969 in Casablanca, Muriel Barbery is a French novelist. A graduate of the École normale supérieure de Fontenay-Saint-Cloud and an agrégée in philosophy, she taught the subject at the University of Burgundy and in secondary schools before writing full time, and lived in Japan in 2008 and 2009. Her second novel, "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" (2006), topped the French bestseller lists for months, sold more than a million copies at home and was translated worldwide; it was adapted for the screen as "Le Hérisson" in 2009. Her other books include "Gourmet Rhapsody" (2000), "The Life of Elves" (2015), "A Single Rose" (2020) and "One Hour of Fervour" (2022).