Les Demoiselles

Winner of the 2021 Culture Presse Readers’ Prize, the 2021 U Culture Prize, and the 2021 Innerwheel Grand Prix.

“There are only three rules here. First: never fall in love. Second: never steal another woman’s man. Third: only drink vintage champagne. Of these three rules, however, only one would be respected.”

Rosa is fifteen when she sets off on a cold autumn morning with a singular goal in mind: to become an espadrille seamstress in Basque country, and escape her destiny. But at the end of the road, she meets the Demoiselles. Whimsical and mysterious women, living amidst books, garters, and champagne. Who are they? What secret are they hiding? Free and incandescent, accompanied by a butler the size of a cathedral, a shady chauffeur, and a bawdy parrot, the Demoiselles should never have crossed Rosa’s path. And yet, these women will change her life.