Announcing the winner of the Princess Haiku Literary Award 2008

Princess Haiku is happy to present her first annual literary award to Muriel Barbery for her unique and empathic novel "The Elegance of the Hedgehog."

Elegance of the Hedgehog was first released in August 2006 by Gallimard and the novel became a publishing success in France the next year, selling well over a million copies. It has since been translated into several languages and released to countries outside France, including the United Kingdom, Canada and United States. Muriel Barbery novelist and philosophy professor has been the recipient of critical acclaim for her novel.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog is a rare study into the dialectics of human nature and a discourse on social class consciousness, love and the philosophical dilemmas of life.

The book follows the concierge Renée Michel, whose concealed intelligence is discovered by an unstable but precocious girl named Paloma Josse. Paloma is daughter of an upper-class family living in the upscale Parisian apartment that Renée is appointed to work in. A novel featuring erudite characters, The Elegance of the Hedgehog alludes to literary works, including music, films, and paintings. It incorporates themes of philosophy, class consciousness, and conflict.

The reader once introduced to Renee the subtle, enters her experience and thought; is disarmed with her perspicacious intellect. As Renee's story assumes resonance in our emotional chambers, she becomes concierge excelsior. -The narrator that guards the gateway of our inner chambers; our own hidden residence, where we would prefer to arrive unannnounced, live privately and in the obscurity of our foibles and avoid dangers of friendship and love.




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