Autopsy of a Father

Praised for her “exceptional ability to narrate the heartrending lives of ordinary people” (Jean-Louis Hippolyte), deliver a “riveting page-turner” (Entertainment Weekly), and master the “art of creating a diffuse discomfort” (Marie Claire), Pascale Kramer is one of the world’s finest chroniclers of psychological disturbance and the family interior. First published in France in 2016, this novel has already been named a finalist for three prizes.

Autopsy of a Father was inspired by the real-life scandal of French author Richard Millet who, in 2012, made headlines for publishing an essay in praise of Anders Breivik, the right-wing extremist who killed 77 people in Norway.

Set in France, the novel addresses issues of racism and anti-immigrant sentiment rampant throughout Europe by showing how the personal becomes political. Without resorting to polemics, Kramer shows how a recognized intellectual can shift toward dark and intolerant positions, and how that can tear through the fabric of a family and society at large.