法國書商一致推薦的「極品小說」！
從3000到1000,000的出版銷售奇蹟！
◎2007年法國表現最亮眼的作品，口碑狂賣百萬冊
◎「妙莉葉．芭貝里現象」已成為法國2007年最令人印象深刻的社會話題
◎售出31國版權，魅力席捲全球（英國版、美國版2008年9月同步上市）
◎榮獲2007年法國書商獎
◎改編電影已於2008年開拍：改編電影前製作業頗受法國當地媒題關注，目前荷妮一角已確定由知名女星喬希安．芭拉絲寇（Josiane Balasko）擔綱，本片製片正試圖說服北野武來詮釋小津先生一角
故事發生於巴黎左岸政商名流頻繁往來的高級地段，葛內樂街7號，一棟高級公寓。
芭洛瑪從不是個安份的女孩。她很聰明，甚至可以說是天才。生於富裕家庭、父親是國會議員的她，即便擁有看似完美的一切，卻著實厭倦生活中的所有，小小眼睛已看透成人世界的虛偽與空虛。因為常常躲起來思索存在問題，而被老愛大驚小怪的媽媽誤認精神異常。面對荒謬的外在世界，她為自己訂了個人生目標──在十三歲生日當天自殺，並放火燒了父母的豪宅！
同時，人見人不愛的門房荷妮，二十七年來在這棟住滿達官顯貴、菁英分子的高級公寓，過著隱形人般的生活。耍笨、裝醜、要粗俗，這是她每天必須謹守的本份。在掩人耳目的背後，她的心靈密室塞滿胡塞爾現象學、佛洛依德、中世紀哲學……。她保守著自己的祕密，告訴自己──我必須對我的一切緘口不言，而且絕不能把腳踩進不屬於我的世界，我得小心翼翼地和他們打交道……
直到三樓的美食評論大師過世，住進一位退休的高極音響日本代理商小津先生，他的日本作風，在住戶間掀起一陣波瀾。他的出現，暴露出芭洛瑪和荷妮柔軟又脆弱的內心，瓦解她們身上偽裝的尖刺，挖掘出荷妮不為人知的過去。她們將隨著公寓發生的事件，慢慢地，擺脫孤獨，轉化，蛻變，重生……
本書中譯本《刺蝟的優雅》由「商周」出版。
The enthralling international bestseller.
We are in the center of Paris, in an elegant apartment building inhabited by bourgeois families. Renee, the concierge, is witness to the lavish but vacuous lives of her numerous employers. Outwardly she conforms to every stereotype of the concierge: fat, cantankerous, addicted to television. Yet, unbeknownst to her employers, Renee is a cultured autodidact who adores art, philosophy, music, and Japanese culture. With humor and intelligence she scrutinizes the lives of the building’s tenants, who for their part are barely aware of her existence.
Then there’s Paloma, a twelve-year-old genius. She is the daughter of a tedious parliamentarian, a talented and startlingly lucid child who has decided to end her life on the sixteenth of June, her thirteenth birthday. Until then she will continue behaving as everyone expects her to behave: a mediocre pre-teen high on adolescent subculture, a good but not an outstanding student, an obedient if obstinate daughter.
Paloma and Renee hide both their true talents and their finest qualities from a world they suspect cannot or will not appreciate them. They discover their kindred souls when a wealthy Japanese man named Ozu arrives in the building. Only he is able to gain Paloma’s trust and to see through Renee’s timeworn disguise to the secret that haunts her. This is a moving, funny, triumphant novel that exalts the quiet victories of the inconspicuous among us.
作者簡介
妙莉葉．芭貝里（Muriel Barbery）
1969年出生，本身為哲學教授，以《刺蝟的優雅》成為當代法國知名暢銷作家。並獲法國外交部補助，於2008年日本京都的關西日法交流會館進行駐地交流，著手第三本小說的寫作。
