An evening with Leïla Slimani, author of the global literary sensation, Lullaby and adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron

Join us on Wednesday 12th December for an evening with the esteemed writer Leïla Slimani – the first Moroccan woman to win France’s most prestigious literary accolade, the Prix Goncourt, as she speaks about her novel Lullaby, her work as “personal representative” of the French President, Emmanuel Macron for Francophone affairs, and her defence of women's rights and equality in Morocco.

Book signing

This event includes a book signing by the author, copies of Lullaby will be available to purchase on the night.

Lullaby

“The baby is dead. It only took a few seconds”.

When Myriam, a mother and brilliant French-Moroccan lawyer, decides to return to work after having children, she and her husband are forced to look for the perfect caretaker for their two young children. They never dreamed they would find Louise: a quiet, polite and devoted woman who sings to their children, cleans the family’s chic apartment in Paris’s upscale 10th arrondissement, stays late without complaint and is able to host enviable birthday parties.

The couple and nanny become more dependent on each other. As jealousy, resentment and suspicions increase, Myrian and Paul’s idyllic tableau is shattered. Lullaby (deemed the French Gone Girl) is a compulsive, riveting and bravely observed exploration of power, class, race, domesticity and motherhood – and the English-language debut of an immensely talented writer.

This event has been made possible thanks to the generous support of the Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France’s Visiting Scholars’ Seminar Series. It is one of three events in 2018–2019 at the Universities of Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield that will explore Empire and Afterlives in Modern France.