“Literary discovery of the year”
Praise and prizes rain down on Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir's Rosa candida in France.
The novel Rosa candida (orig. Afleggjarinn) by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir has won the Prix de Page award, as the best European novel published in France in 2010. The prize is awarded by an association of French bookstores.
In the two months since its publication in France, Rosa candida has been nominated for three other prizes: the award of the literary journal Lire, the Fnac literary prize and the prestigious Fémina prize, awarded to one French and one foreign author each November.
The French critical reaction has also been overwhelmingly positive. “The literary discovery of the year,” says a review in Le Parisien, for instance, and an article on the book in the periodical Le Page similarly states: “Rosa candida is a rare book, full of beauty. After opening the book I was unable to put it down, entirely captivated by its enchanting style.” Le Monde, in turn, has written two pieces on the book, calling it, respectively, “a revelation” and “ wonderfully worked-out gourmet prose.”
In view of the book's success, Auður's French publisher, Zulma, has bought the French rights to her second novel, Rigning í nóvember (November Rain), as well as the rights to her newest novel, due out in Iceland in the autumn of 2011.
When this piece is written, Rosa candida has been sold to five countries, with negotiations with many other foreign publishers underway.