A Leopard-Skin Hat
Author: Serre, Anne
ISBN: 9780241791493
Publisher: Penguin UK
Year first published: 14 Jul 2026
Pages: 112
Format: Paperback / softback
Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize, a heart-wrenching fable of enduring attachment by one of France's most original writers at work today
A Leopard-Skin Hat may be Anne Serre's most moving novel yet. A masterpiece of simplicity, emotion and elegance, it is the story of an intense friendship between the Narrator and his close childhood friend, Fanny, who suffers from profound psychological disorders.
A series of short scenes paints the portrait of a strong-willed and tormented young woman battling many demons, and of the Narrator's loving and anguished attachment to her. Serre poignantly depicts the bewildering back and forth between hope and despair involved in such a relationship, while playfully calling into question the very form of the novel. Written in the aftermath of the death of the author's little sister, A Leopard-Skin Hat is both the celebration of a tragically foreshortened life and a valedictory farewell.
Translated from French by Mark Hutchinson.
ISBN: 9780241791493
Publisher: Penguin UK
Year first published: 14 Jul 2026
Pages: 112
Format: Paperback / softback
Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize, a heart-wrenching fable of enduring attachment by one of France's most original writers at work today
A Leopard-Skin Hat may be Anne Serre's most moving novel yet. A masterpiece of simplicity, emotion and elegance, it is the story of an intense friendship between the Narrator and his close childhood friend, Fanny, who suffers from profound psychological disorders.
A series of short scenes paints the portrait of a strong-willed and tormented young woman battling many demons, and of the Narrator's loving and anguished attachment to her. Serre poignantly depicts the bewildering back and forth between hope and despair involved in such a relationship, while playfully calling into question the very form of the novel. Written in the aftermath of the death of the author's little sister, A Leopard-Skin Hat is both the celebration of a tragically foreshortened life and a valedictory farewell.
Translated from French by Mark Hutchinson.
