August Book of the Month: Lullaby by Leïla Slimani - Read and join the discussion and author webchat on Tues 11 September, 9pm

[SorchaMumsnet]

Our second Summer book club read provides a thrilling contrast to our July book (Why Mummy Swears).

Lullaby is a dark exploration of the relationship between a middle-class Parisian couple and their nanny, wrapped up in a gripping psychological thriller. The book, by French-Moroccan journalist Leïla Slimani, has had everyone talking - and received acclaim in the form of prestigious French literary prize the Prix Goncourt. The English version has been translated from the French by Sam Taylor.

Find out more about the book, read - or listen to - an extract and see what the Mumsnet bloggers have to say about Lullaby. Leïla Slimani will be joining us to answer questions about the book on Tuesday 11 September between 9 and 10 pm,

If you're interested in joining us, do grab yourself a copy or download the audiobook and join in the discussion below.

Leïla can we ask you the questions from Mumsnet that we ask all our book club authors?

Which childhood book most inspired you?

What was the last book you gave someone as a gift?

What was the best book you have recently read?

And finally -can you describe the room where you wrote Lullaby? (Please tell us it was in Paris!)

Hi Leila

What a beautiful written captivating story that has stayed with me; I was gripped from that amazing first chapter and I keep thinking back to it. My French isn’t up to reading the original so I am really glad that it was translated.

You’ve already answered the question that I was going to ask which was how much of an emotional toll did writing this have on you so I’ll ask instead, knowing the effect that writing it had, if you were to go back in time, would you still choose a topic like this or would you reconsider and choose something less dark?

@starlight36

Are there any plans for Lullaby to be made into a film? Reading the novel I could imagine it working well on screen. If so would you like to be involved in the screenwriting process?

Hi starlight36! Yes there will be a movie. Actually it has already been shot with a very famous french actress in the role of Louise, Karin Viard. I hope you will be able to watch it soon! But I was not involved in the writing of the scenario; I really wanted to see what a film director could do with my novel.

Hi FernieB - no I don’t think they wanted to be her friend, but they had middle class guilt about being her employer so their awkwardness over that made them want to blur the lines a bit. But it backfired and left them feeling worse (and ashamed). That was my take anyway!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, especially because it didn't follow many conventional routes of narrative.

I was interested in what appeared to be the start of a flirtation between Paul and Louise on holiday. Why did you decide not to take it further?

@Celama

Hi Leila

What a beautiful written captivating story that has stayed with me; I was gripped from that amazing first chapter and I keep thinking back to it. My French isn’t up to reading the original so I am really glad that it was translated.

You’ve already answered the question that I was going to ask which was how much of an emotional toll did writing this have on you so I’ll ask instead, knowing the effect that writing it had, if you were to go back in time, would you still choose a topic like this or would you reconsider and choose something less dark?

Hi Celama, that is a very beautiful question you are asking me. You know, I don't really think that a writer choose his topics. We are chosen by them. It may seem weird or foolish, but it is true. Marguerite Duras used to say that "we don"t write, we are written". So I am sure that I wrote Lullaby because it was meant to be...

@ButDoYouAvocado

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, especially because it didn't follow many conventional routes of narrative.

I was interested in what appeared to be the start of a flirtation between Paul and Louise on holiday. Why did you decide not to take it further?

Hi! I don't really think that there is a flirtation between them but, for the first time, on the beach, Paul sees Louise as a woman and not only as a nanny or someone who belongs to the world of children. If i had took it further I think it would have been a completely different story. It was not my point. And I must add that Paul is very in love with his wife and probably too condescendant to have an affair with a nanny that is older than him.

I love your answer to my question Leila! It’s great to hear that there will be a film, congratulations.

Yes - congratulations on the film. Definitely one I'll look out for. Thanks for answering my question.

@RachelMumsnet

Leïla can we ask you the questions from Mumsnet that we ask all our book club authors?

Which childhood book most inspired you?

What was the last book you gave someone as a gift?

What was the best book you have recently read?

And finally -can you describe the room where you wrote Lullaby? (Please tell us it was in Paris!)

Hey Rachel !
The chilhood book is Mary Poppins of course !
The last book I gave as a gift was Robinson Crusoe to my son
Le lambeau by Philippe Lançon
I wrote Lullaby in my living room ( I didn't have a room of my own at that time) in Paris, with an extradinary view on le Sacré coeur. It is a wonderful memory.

Do you have your own writing room now and how long each day do you write?

Did you meet your translator or did you even consider doing the job yourself?

That’s all we’ve got time for tonight. a huge thank you to Leïla for your honest and thoughtful answers. It was so interesting to hear your motivation behind Lullaby and we hope you’ve enjoyed your time on Mumsnet and that you’ll come back again to tell us about future novels. Thanks to everyone who joined tonight.

September book of the month is Fierce by Gin Phillips. We’ll be announcing the winners of free copies on this thread over the next couple of days and will notify you via personal message if you’ve been successful.

Congratulations to MamaCBear, littlerose12345, miketv, starlight36, FernieB, SallySwann, Stopfuckingshoutingatme, MakemineaGandT, Belo, Celama, Butdoyouavocado and Fatrascals who has each won a copy of September book of the month: Fierce by Gin Phillips. We'll be in touch by PM today to let you know how to claim your book.

Oh how exciting! I’ve been trying to reply to your inbox message, but it won’t “go”! Aaargh!

Same
!

Same here but I've sent a separate direct message.

Thank you SallySwann - good thinking! I’ve followed your example and just done the same thing