The Life of Elves

An inspiring literary fantasy about two gifted girls from the bestselling author of The Elegance of the Hedgehog, The Life of Elves sings of the human spirit and conveys a message of hope and faith.

Muriel Barbery's new novel is the first of two books about Maria and Clara, unforgettable heroines of a world facing annihilation. Animated by a large cast of endearing characters, it is a timeless story about the forces of good and evil and a moving meditation on the power of nature, music, art, storytelling, and love.

When the harmony between living beings turns to discord, the seasons will be loosed from their moorings and the natural world thrown into disarray; human beings--no longer capable of feeling either empathy or enchantment--will abandon themselves to hate, violence, and war.

An epic battle between forces that wish to reestablish harmony in the world and those that wish to shatter it definitively is being waged on earth and in the mysterious land of mist, where the elves dwell. A ragtag army of rural peasants gathers in readiness for the fight--their weapons, an age-old kinship with the land and an affinity for magic. But humankind cannot hope to win this battle alone. Victory depends on help from the inhabitants of a world that is hidden from human sight. Hope rests with Maria and Clara, two girls whose prodigious artistic talents and deep connections with nature make communion with the numinous realm possible.

作者簡介

妙莉葉．芭貝里（Muriel Barbery）

　　1969年生，父母皆為法文教授。專攻哲學，後成為哲學教授，目前全心投入寫作。

　　2000年出版處女作《終極美味》，獲得不少讀者青睞，並榮獲2001年最佳美食文學類書籍獎，被譯為14國文字。

　　2006年出版了《刺蝟的優雅》，沒有大力宣傳，卻藉由讀者的口耳相傳及眾書商的支持，先後襲捲法國、義大利、西班牙、德國、韓國、美國等地，獲得高度支持及迴響，締造出版界的佳績。已翻譯的版本高達40種，全球銷售超過600萬本。榮獲法國各項大獎，包括2006年Georges Brassens文學獎、2007年法國書商獎、2007年國際扶輪社獎，及2007年法國全民文化與圖書獎。

　　曾旅居日本、阿姆斯特丹，目前居住於法國鄉間。