Before Nicolas Mathieu won the Prix Goncourt in 2018 for And Their Children After Them he wrote this remarkable novel about two small-town scallies who resort to crime when the local factory closes down . . . Mathieu, a wonderful writer, echoes the grittiness and compassion of Émile Zola in Germinal

Before Nicolas Mathieu won the Prix Goncourt in 2018 for And Their Children After Them he wrote this remarkable novel about two small-town scallies who resort to crime when the local factory closes down . . . Mathieu, a wonderful writer, echoes the grittiness and compassion of Emile Zola in Germinal - The TimesThere are several intersecting stories in this bleakly uncompromising portrait of working-class life in the Vosges . . . this tale of helpless, resentful people with nothing to lose is powerful and compelling. - GuardianPRAISE FOR AND THEIR CHILDREN AFTER THEM: 'Deeply felt . . . An exceptional portrait of youth - Irish Times[A] page-turner of a novel . . . I couldn't put the book down - New York TimesMathieu won France's prestigious Goncourt prize for this absorbing Nineties narrative set in a French valley community left stranded by the decline of industry . . . a multi-viewpoint panorama of thwarted aspirations, spiced with breathy sex scenes and nostalgic detail - Mail on SundayAnd Their Children After Them finds space for beauty, for tenderness, for hope . . . you might think of a Ken Loach movie with a soundtrack by Bruce Springsteen . . . an elegiac anthem - Financial TimesThe plot, involving drug dealing and simmering violence . . . keeps you turning the pages. - Sunday TimesAward-winning novelist Nicolas Mathieu portrays how the destruction of working-class communities has fed cynicism and despair. - Jacobin Magazine