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£8.99
Published
15 October 2019
PBO
9781910400968
Ebook
Press Release
Coming soon.
 

WINNER: CWA ‘Crime Fiction in Translation’ DAGGER
WINNER: EUROPEAN CRIME FICTION PRIZE
WINNER: GRAND PRIX DE LITTÉRATURE POLICIÈRE

Translated by Stephanie Smee

Meet Patience Portefeux – 53 years old, widowed mother of two, fluent Arabic speaker, upstanding French citizen… and soon to become The Godmother.

For 25 years she has toiled honestly, translating police wire-taps of north African drug gangs. She knows she’s just a footsoldier in a senseless politicians’ war against high-grade hashish, a tiny cog in the state machinery of racism and repression. But it’s always paid the bills – until now.

The scrimping French state pays its translators ‘off the books’, meaning there’ll be no pension to reward her long years of service. With her mother’s extortionate care home eating her savings, a lonely and impoverished old age lies ahead. So when Patience gets the chance to take possession of a vast stash of top-quality Moroccan Khardala, she doesn’t hesitate long. Exit the grey-suited civil servant. Enter The Godmother. Life in the banlieues will never be the same again.

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Old Street Publishing The Godmother

WINNER: CWA ‘Crime Fiction in Translation’ DAGGER
WINNER: EUROPEAN CRIME FICTION PRIZE
WINNER: GRAND PRIX DE LITTÉRATURE POLICIÈRE

Translated by Stephanie Smee

Meet Patience Portefeux – 53 years old, widowed mother of two, fluent Arabic speaker, upstanding French citizen… and soon to become The Godmother.

For 25 years she has toiled honestly, translating police wire-taps of north African drug gangs. She knows she’s just a footsoldier in a senseless politicians’ war against high-grade hashish, a tiny cog in the state machinery of racism and repression. But it’s always paid the bills – until now.

The scrimping French state pays its translators ‘off the books’, meaning there’ll be no pension to reward her long years of service. With her mother’s extortionate care home eating her savings, a lonely and impoverished old age lies ahead. So when Patience gets the chance to take possession of a vast stash of top-quality Moroccan Khardala, she doesn’t hesitate long. Exit the grey-suited civil servant. Enter The Godmother. Life in the banlieues will never be the same again.

—

—

 8.99
 
 

'A fabulous noir'
—LE POINT

 
 
  • 'Rigorous – superbly plotted by an author who clearly knows the territory. Vivid, smoky dialogue and an ending that ticks all the boxes… Masterly'
    —LE FIGARO
  • 'It's no surprise that this novel won France's most prestigious award for crime fiction' —PUBLISHERS' WEEKLY
  • 'Cayre plots so cunningly she might have written the entire French TV series Spiral… A film of the novel has been made with Isabelle Huppert, whose own expertise is weary sophistication… It sounds like perfect casting'
    —THE MONTHLY
 
 
Hannelore Cayre

Hannelore Cayre is an award-winning French novelist, screenwriter and director, as well as a practising criminal lawyer. The Godmother (La Daronne) was made into the 2020 feature film Mama Weed, starring Isabelle Huppert. Hannelore Cayre lives in Paris.