The Propagandist
An Extraordinary WWII Autobiographical Novel. New Yorker Best Books of The Year.
Cécile Desprairies author Natasha Lehrer translator
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Swift Press
Published:8th May '25
Should be back in stock very soon
'Astounding ... A haunting tale of guilt' The Telegraph, Five Star Review
'An unforgettable portrait of a singular woman and her frenzied efforts to launder her unsavoury past' Literary Review
'Aharrowing but elegantly constructed rot-riddled family romance' Financial Times
'Devastatingly effective' The Times
‘In her debut novel, a historian of Vichy France tackles her family's real-life collaboration during the Second World War’ New Yorker Best Books of the Year
'Full of so many secrets that it's a wonder she managed to write it all' New York Times
'Shows why historical fiction matters, how stories breathe life into forgotten moments ... Haunting' Cara Black, author of Three Hours in Paris
In a grand Paris apartment, a young girl attends gatherings regularly organised by her mother. They talk about clothes and exchange the day's gossip, but the mood grows dark when they start to talk about her past, and the great love she is said to have known during the Second World War.
When the girl grows up, she looks into the enigmatic figures in and around her family. Who was the man her mother fell in love with before the war? Why did they zealously collaborate with the Nazi occupiers of France? And why did they remain for decades afterwards obsessive devotees of that lost cause?
In The Propagandist, a historian of Vichy France investigates the secrets, lies and omissions in her own family in the way she has investigated those of France itself. It is a masterpiece of psychological insight, revealing how people can spend a lifetime deceiving themselves, rather than confront their own past.
READER REVIEWS
'A brilliant piece of fiction that unequivocally deserves five stars'
'Beautifully written'
'Nearly impossible to set down'
'Fascinating and complex'
'Astounding ... The Propagandist, a debut novel by historian Cécile Desprairies, blends her family’s history with fiction to forge a haunting tale of guilt ... This deft blend of fact and fiction is The Propagandist’s genius ... This mighty novel is the work of a woman with her own family’s shivers fresh in her mind. With its poised prose, stylishly translated by Natasha Lehrer, it does precisely what the fictional family fears: exposes guilt of all scales' - The Telegraph, Five Star Review
‘This autobiographical story by Cécile Desprairies, a historian of the Occupation, is told in taut, unflashy prose. The narrator never explicitly judges her family; she just lays out their embrace of Nazism in cool detail. The result is devastatingly effective’ - The Times
'Longlisted, with good reason, for the 2023 Prix Goncourt — France’s most prestigious literary prize — and now beautifully translated into English by Natasha Lehrer, The Propagandist is a harrowing but elegantly constructed rot-riddled family romance. But it’s also a book about translation and interpretation; about how language can be used to both conceal and reveal' - Financial Times
'Cécile Desprairies's novel, The Propagandist, is full of so many secrets that it's a wonder she managed to write it all . . . The book takes an insider's perspective on occupied France's collaboration with Nazi Germany during World War II' - The New York Times
‘A vividly detailed story inter-woven with scorching truth … a personal J’Accuse, indicting her mother and the family – a community of enthusiastic collaborators – for their part in the collapse of a country’ - The Spectator
'In her debut novel, a historian of Vichy France tackles her family's real-life collaboration during the Second World War . . . The result is at once a ghost story, a tale of amour fou, a settling of accounts, and, one senses, a deeply personal act of expiation . . . allowing readers to identify with the human foibles of characters on the wrong side of history, while never excusing them' - The New Yorker
‘A disturbing autobiographical novel from a respected French historian … Desprairies’ unflinching account makes uncomfortable reading’ - The Herald
ISBN: 9781800755239
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
208 pages