The German Book Prize 2020 goes to Anne Weber
The Deutscher Buchpreis 2020 was awarded to Anne Weber for her ‘breathtaking’ and ‘epic’ biogaphy of Anne Beaumanoir, Annette, ein Heldinnenepos, published by Matthes & Seitz in Berlin. You can find the booktrailer here.
Mondadori acquired the Italian rights for Annette, ein Heldinnenepos.
From the jury's statement: “The power of Anne Weber’s story is equal to the power of her heroine: It is breathtaking how fresh the old form of the epic sounds here and with what lightness Weber condenses the life story of French resistance fighter Anne Beaumanoir into a novel about courage, resistance and the struggle for freedom. ‘Annette, ein Heldinnenepos’ (‘Annette, an Epic of a Heroine’) is a story full of hardships, which Weber tells with effortless discretion and subtle irony. This novel is about nothing less than Franco-German history as one of the foundations of the Europe of today. We are grateful that Anne Weber has discovered Annette for us and told her story.”
What a life! Born in Brittany in 1923, raised in modest circumstances, member of the communist resistance as a teenager, rescuer of two Jewish youths, neurophysiologist in Marseille after the war, sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1959 for her involvement in the Algerian independence movement … and still, to this day, a living example of the importance of civil disobedience. The unbelievable life of Anne Beaumanoir told in the brilliant biographical epic of a heroine.
You can watch the full ceremony here, and you can find all shortlisted titles handled by B&G here.
