Tom is Dead

In its original French, Tom Est Mort was nominated for the Prix Femina and the Prix Goncourt. This edition is translated by Lia Hills.

Tom died when he was four. To stop herself from forgetting him, his mother tries to write Tom's story, the story of his death. She strives to describe it all as precisely as possible. It's the details that will lead her and the reader to the truth.

Set in the Blue Mountains and in Sydney, Tom is Dead is a suspense novel in which Darrieussecq takes us to the core of grief and drives this narrator's experience into our hearts.

‘There are very few writers who may have changed my perception of the world, but Darrieussecq is one of them.’ The Times

‘[An] incisive, lyrical and sympathetic translation of a novel with such a European sensibility, such intensity and such a distinctive style and tone…Tom is Dead is mesmerising and deeply rewarding.’ Australian Literary Review

‘Marie Darrieussecq, the brilliant French novelist, has written an extraordinary work about the death of a son.’ Good Reading

‘Tom is Dead is powerful; when one has finished reading it one feels it absolutely needed to exist.’ Nancy Huston