Fear and Trembling

Belgian by nationality, Amélie Nothomb was born in Kobe, Japan, and currently lives in Paris. Described by Time Magazine as 'prolific and ingenious', she is the best-selling author of numerous novels, translated into over thirty languages, including Fear and Trembling which won the Grand Prix of the Académie Française and the Prix Internet du Livre, and The Book of Proper Names which has sold over 250,000 copies in France. Adriana Hunter has been working as a literary translator since 1998 and has now translated over fifty books from the French including, for Portobello Books, Véronique Ovaldé's Kick the Animal Out (a finalist for The French-American Foundation and the Florence Gould Foundation Translation Prize) and And My See-Through Heart. She has three children and lives in Norfolk.

"'Ingenious... With great delicacy, Nothomb updates the age-old divide between East and West in this delectable little book.' O, The Oprah Magazine; 'Nothomb is the latest enfant terrible of French letters... She has an acidic yet passionately romantic view of human nature.' Elle"