Family Record

“Driven by sumptuously perfect vignettes—tales of collaboration nearly forgotten, run-ins with a deposed King, the chronicle of life as a father—this book deepens the sense of unease and candor from which Modiano’s work so endlessly proceeds.”—John Freeman, Literary Hub

“Vivid set pieces. . . . Modiano’s interest in characters living on the margins of society—grifters, chanteuses, black marketeers and petty thieves, all the standard habitués of the twilit world of the demimonde—is on full display in Family Record.”—Bailey Trela, Tablet 

“[A] satisfying blend of memoir and novelization. . . . A fascinating exploration of memory and culpability.”—Publishers Weekly

“[A] rich, enthralling novel . . . [with] a furious excitement. . . . I never wanted to put it down.”—Robert Fulford, National Post (Canada)

“At only 32, Modiano had already found the subjects and themes that would engage him across decades. . . . This early work is a key to the author’s larger project.”—Rumaan Alam, New Republic

“[A] seamless blend of memoir and invention [that] is classic Modiano—made manifest in its bewitching ambience, vague menace, and muted longing—though its cumulative effects strike me as uniquely personal among his fictions.”—Dustin Illingworth, Jewish Currents

Finalist for the 33rd Annual French Translation Prize sponsored by the French-American Foundation