Francoise Sagan

Françoise Sagan, born in 1935, was the daughter of a prosperous industrialist. She was only eighteen and had failed her foundation-year examinations at the Sorbonne when she completed her first novel, Bonjour Tristesse. For its publication in 1954 she replaced her original surname by a nom de plume taken from Proust’s character the Princesse de Sagan. As a coming-of-age novel, Bonjour Tristesse was a huge succès de scandale. The fact that it had been written by a young woman of impeccably bourgeois credentials was also a source of fascination to the French public and, as well as attracting critical acclaim, Sagan rapidly gained celebrity status. Her eagerly awaited second novel, A Certain Smile, followed in 1956. Sagan’s other works of fiction include Those Without Shadows, Aimez-vous Brahms...?, La Chamade, The Heart-Keeper, Sunlight on Cold Water, Scars on the Soul, The Unmade Bed, The Painted Lady, The Still Storm, Painting in Blood, Silken Eyes and Incidental Music. She also wrote for the theatre and produced several collections of personal reminiscences. Her work has been widely translated. Françoise Sagan died in 2004.