A brilliant novel about the final years of the Goncourt brothers, who lived like twins, and the double life of their housekeeper, amidst the glamor and misery of Paris in the time of Napoleon III.
This novel takes us into the world of Jules and Edmond de Goncourt, who shared everything: their house, thoughts, work, and mistress. The two men went to meet Flaubert, Zola, and other artists at the Emperor’s cousin’s palace, to exhibitions, and to restaurants with friends and acquaintances. And, afterwards, they gossiped about everyone they met in the secret diary they kept together. They were notorious for their gaze, which supposedly missed nothing, and their sharp pen, which noted down everything. Until Jules became terminally ill…
The novel also takes us into the opposite world: that of Rose, their housekeeper, who is part of the household like a piece of furniture. Unnoticed by the brothers, she experiences existential dramas, falls hopelessly in love with the wrong man, who shamelessly exploits her, becomes pregnant without the brothers noticing and gives birth to a child she loves and later also loses, and ends up as a drunk who betrays and steals from her employers, also without them noticing – until she dies, and the brothers finally see the light…
"A novel about fraternal love, artistry, gossip, and death, cleverly composed, richly detailed, colorful, sad, funny; and encapsulated discreetly within it: a great women’s novella. This is Sulzer’s chef d’œuvre.” - Michael Maar
