The Woman with the Bouquet

In his new collection of stories, Eric-Emanuel Schmitt, author of The Most Beautiful Book in the world, probes the paradox that the events that shape out lives and are often the stuff of dreams, yet nonetheless true. Humor, tenderness, irony and exquisite writing have always been the hallmarks of Schmitt's work. Here, he adds a pinch of philosophy.

In The Dreamer of Ostend, a lovelorn writer seeks refuge in Ostend, a remote and charming town on the Noth Sea. His host is a solitary and eccentric octogenarian. The fairy-take setting starts to work its magic and the old woman begins to tell her tale - an extraordinary story of passion. Bewitched by what he hears, the writer can no longer distinguish what is real from what is not, and in the woman's account he will finally find a response to his own deep-seated grief. Here as in the other stories in this collection, Schmitt displays the combination of stylishness and insight into the human condition that prompted Kirkus Reviews to write of his tales that they "echo Maupassant's with their lean narratives, surprise endings, mordant humor and psychological acuity."

An exceptional collection by one of Europe's most beloved authors.