As every year, the jury for the Prix Interallié, chaired by academician Jean-Marie Rouart, meets at Chez Lasserre restaurant in the 8th arrondissement of Paris.^e arrondissement de Paris, to name the winner of its prestigious literary award. Who succeeded Gaspard Koenig, author of Humus (Editions de l’Observatoire)? Only four novelists were left in the running: Delphine Minoui, Middle East correspondent for Le Figaro with Badjens (Seuil); Thibault de Montaigu with Heart (Albin Michel); Olivier Norek, for Winter Warriors (Michel Lafon) and Abel Quentin, Cabane (Editions de l’Observatoire).

The jury chose Thibault de Montaigu for his very good, moving autobiographical novel, based around the figure of his dandy father and great-grandfather, who died in a cavalry charge in 1914.

Father stories

Thibault de Montaigu’s new book, Histoires de père, has attracted a lot of attention this autumn. Thibault de Montaigu begins his story when his father, an octogenarian, bankrupt and blind, lives in a studio apartment rented by his sons in a retirement home. In Le Figaro littéraire, Astrid de Larminat underlined this tribute to the father, a beautiful text of admiration. “La GrâceThibault de Montaigu’s previous book told the story of one of his uncles who became a Franciscan after having been a great debauchee. Heart revolves around two other family figures. In the foreground, her father, Emmanuel de Montaigu. A flamboyant man, handsome and brilliant, with an absolute casualness, a charming prince for whom every day was an adventure into which he threw himself with greed and sovereign insouciance – the opposite of his son, whom everything worries. “

Thibault de Montaigu was also on the lists of the most prestigious autumn prizes. By winning the Interallié, he added his name to a prestigious list of prize-winners, along with André Malraux (first prize-winner in 1930, with La Voie royale), Paul Nizan, Jean Dutourd, Paul Guimard, Antoine Blondin, René Fallet, Kléber Haedens, Pierre Schoendoerffer, Sébastien Japrisot, Philippe Labro, Dominique Bona and all the jurors of this award.

The Prix Interallié jury includes Jean-Marie Rouart (chairman), Stéphane Denis, Gilles Martin-Chauffier, Eric Neuhoff, Christophe Ono-dit-Biot, Jean-Christophe Rufin, Jean-René Van der Plaetsen and Florian Zeller. A special feature of this year’s competition is the addition of Gaspard Koenig, winner of the previous edition, to the jury.