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  • $19.95

    ISBN: 9780889229730 | Paperback

    224 pages | Pub. Date: 20160127
    5 W × 8.5 H × 1 D inches
    Backlist | Fiction | Bisac: FIC019000
    Rights: WORLD

    Or find Mend the Living in your local bookstore

Mend the Living is the story of a heart transplant, centred around Simon Limbeau, the boy whose heart is given, and his family.

Taking place within exactly twenty-four hours, the novel traces the thrill of an early-morning winter surf session, the terrible accident that follows, and all the urgency and compassion of the hospital workers, and shock and grief of Simon’s family as they negotiate the question of organ donation. Maylis de Kerangal offers glimpses into the thoughts and affective lives of each of the characters: Simon, at the core of the novel; Marianne and Sean, his parents, who have been estranged for some months; Revol, the chief surgeon, music enthusiast, and studier of hallucinogenic plants; Cordelia Owl, the capable new nurse who is reeling from a night spent with her former lover; Thomas Rémige, the hospital coordinator, an opera singer, and aficionado of goldfinches; Virgilio, the silvertongued, light-fingered surgeon; Juliette, Simon’s girlfriend, who is building a labyrinth inside a Plexiglass case, waiting for Simon’s call.

The novel also touches upon Claire, the recipient of the heart, whose life has been limited by her condition, who reflects philosophically on what it means to have someone else’s heart beating inside you.

Weaving from hospital corridors to the wild waves of the Atlantic, from the narrow streets of Paris to the countryside in Algeria where goldfinches still sing, from the most intimate details of grief within a car in Le Havre to universal considerations of science, compassion, and humanity, Mend the Living is a powerful and vast-ranging book. In her trademark masterful use of language, playing with pacing and tension and a vibrant vocabulary, Maylis de Kerangal gives us a metaphysical adventure that is at once both collective and intimate.

Long-listed 2016 Man Booker International Prize

Winner 2017 Wellcome Book Prize

“Maylis de Kerangal navigates perfectly between the epic and the intimate; let’s just say that her writing will shake you to your very core.”
Elle

“… winning and effective … A sophisticated medical drama whose pulse-pounding strength diminishes a touch too quickly.”
Kirkus Reviews

“This breathless novel has all the beauty of a Greek tragedy. It is also a hymn to creation and a meditation on the relationship between the body and consciousness, life and death.”
Figaro

“Among the most fascinating writers of her generation. With Mend the Living, Maylis de Kerangal attains even greater heights.”
Le Monde

“Jessica Moore’s deft, exacting, and nuanced translation brilliantly writes de Kerangal’s magnificent prose into a new English. A deeply compelling and moving read.”
– Oana Avasilichioaei, author of Limbinal

By Maylis de Kerangal

Maylis de Kerangal is the author of several novels in French: Je marche sous un ciel de traîne (2000), La vie voyageuse (2003), Corniche Kennedy (2008), and Naissance d’un pont (translated here as Birth of a Bridge, winner of the Franz Hessel Prize and the Médicis Prize in 2010).

Read more about Maylis de Kerangal


Translated by Jessica Moore

Jessica Moore is an author and literary translator. Mend the Living, her translation of the novel by Maylis de Kerangal, was nominated for the 2016 Man Booker International and won the UK’s Wellcome Prize in 2017.

Read more about Jessica Moore


news | 2021-10-27
Maylis de Kerangal Special

…and its history. Painting Time is now only $15! Mend the Living is the story of a heart transplant, centred … a Plexiglass case, waiting for Simon’s call. Mend the Living is also on special for $15! And finally, Birth of … below, and add it to your cart. Birth of a Bridge Mend the Living Painting Time …


news | 2021-02-09
Painting Time Is Hot Off the Presses!

…novel by the author of Birth of a Bridge and Mend the Living uses a succession of trompe-l’oeil techniques to …


news | 2017-04-28
Mend the Living wins Wellcome Book Prize!

…and translator Jessica Moore! Their 2016 novel, Mend the Living , has won the 2017 Wellcome Book Prize! Worth … author to win the prestigious prize and, as Mend the Living is a novel in translation, the prize money will …


news | 2017-03-16
Mend the Living is short-listed for the Wellcome Book Prize!

…translation of Maylis de Kerangal’s 2016 novel, Mend the Living , has been short-listed for the Wellcome Book … Air by Paul Kalanithi (USA; The Bodley Head), Mend the Living by Maylis de Kerangal (France; translated by …


news | 2016-11-14
Watch the trailer for the new movie based on Maylis de Kerangal’s novel, Mend the Living

…on Maylis de Kerangal’s riveting novel, Mend the Living, opened in French cinemas last week. Watch the … trailer below: Mend the Living was translated into English by Jessica Moore and …


news | 2016-06-17
Two new reviews of Mend the Living

…the language in de Kerangal’s most recent novel, Mend the Living – and takes especial note of the quality of … of one of her novels, published in English as Mend the Living ($19.95) and Birth of a Bridge ($16.95). …


news | 2016-05-02
Take a ride on the ferry boat, and pick up a great book!

…pleased to share the news that our latest novel, Mend the Living, is now available in gift shops aboard BC … Ferries! Mend the Living , written by French author Maylis de Kerangal and …


news | 2016-04-14
Photos from the 2nd annual BC Book Day at the British Columbia Legislature

…BC Legislature, Linda Reid, talk about adopting Mend the Living for the BC Parliamentary Book Club. We hope they …


news | 2016-03-30
This Saturday in Montreal, join us for the launch of Mend the Living

…Drawn & Quarterly Bookstore for the launch of Mend the Living ! Jessica Moore celebrates the Canadian launch of … the critically acclaimed French novel, Mend the Living, by Maylis de Kerangal. Poets Rahat Kurd and Oana …


news | 2016-03-10
Mend the Living is up for the Man Booker International Prize!

…pleased that Jessica Moore’s translation of Mend the Living by Maylis de Kerangal has made the Man Booker … longlist! Published in Canada by Talonbooks, Mend the Living was simultaneously published in the United … book. In the case of a work in translation (like Mend the Living), the £50,000 prize will be divided equally …