Delphine De Vigan - No and Me

No and Me
(Bloomsbury)

When Lou Bertignac decides to focus on the homeless of Paris for a school project, she is unprepared for the battle with herself she is about to undertake. Already life is barely tolerable with her dad often to be found crying in the bathroom and her mum a physical and psychological train wreck who has never fully recovered from a gut-wrenching family catastrophe. But when she begins to get involved with No, a homeless woman just a few years older than Lou, their awkward relationship threatens to put an impossible strain on her life at home and school.

Having scooped awards in France and become a bestseller across Europe, Delphine de Vigan’s first novel to be translated into English deserves to reach similar levels of glory in the UK. While Lou is stroppy enough to dislike immediately, she has enough quirks and sympathies to keep us committed to her journey and that trip results in a traumatic yet satisfying closure.