The Furrow

Winner of France’s Prix Renaudot

Published in France in 2018 to major acclaim, The Furrow follows a French writer living in Istanbul as she researches the life and death of Hrant Dink, the real-life Turkish-Armenian journalist, editor, and peace activist murdered in 2007. The novel blends a variety of genres into a feminist interpretation and defense of democracy, and reimagines the conventions of personal narrative, reinforcing the first-person narrator’s voice while simultaneously disintegrating it through a collective approach to perspective that splinters our expectations for who is telling what story, and why.

Winner of the prestigious Prix Renaudot, The Furrow arrives in English at a critical time in the contemporary zeitgeist, as authoritarianism becomes an ever greater presence across the world, and collective action an ever greater and more urgent response.

Valérie Manteau is a French writer, editor, and activist based in Marseille. Her novel The Furrow won the 2018 Prix Renaudot and has sold over 100,000 copies in France. She is also the author of Calme et tranquille (2016) and Entre chiens et loups (2025), and was formerly a contributing editor to Charlie Hebdo.

Claire Foster is a writer, bookseller, and literary translator from French. Her translations include works by Bertrand Schefer, George Sand, and Isabelle Eberhardt, as well as Pierre Clémenti’s 1972 prison memoir A Few Personal Messages (Small Press, 2022). Born and raised in Ohio, she lives and works in Toronto.

Praise for Valérie Manteau and The Furrow in the original French:

“To read The Furrow is to experience a turbulent, violent world that is both fraught with terror and teeming with life. In this book, history rigorously writes itself into the intimate present, which is always the best way to approach the collective.”—Annie Ernaux

“This book is written with a candidness that struck me immediately.”—Virginie Despentes

“Finely tuned, tender, often funny, and beautifully alive in its disorder.”—Raphaëlle Leyris, Le Monde des livres

“Profound and unsettling. A stunning book.”—Sophie Joubert, L’Humanité

“An intense burst of writing.”—Marie Richeux, France Culture

“Manteau’s vision, style, and generosity have given me access to feelings I’ve never experienced before.”—Dany Laferrière