Violaine Huisman on Tour in Boston

Violaine Huisman is a French novelist, translator, and cultural curator based in New York for over two decades. Her debut novel, The Book of Mother (Fugitive parce que reine), which explored her beautiful bipolar mother’s life, was translated worldwide and received multiple awards. It was also named one of The New York Times’ Notable Books of 2021 and is currently being adapted for the screen.

Following its international success, Violaine Huisman turns in her latest novel, The Monuments of Paris, to two towering figures at the center of her family story: her father and her grandfather, exploring the myths and contradictions that shaped her inheritance and whose legacy continue to shape French cultural life. Reconstructing a past she did not witness, Violaine Huisman draws on archives and family narratives to trace a path from power to dispossession, weaving in Proustian figures where the record falls silent, and blending historical precision with literary mastery.

Program

• Tuesday, May 12, 2026, at 6:00PM
  The Monuments of Paris: Rewriting Family History, an author talk with Violaine Huisman
  
  French Library, in partnership with Villa Albertine Boston
  (53 Malborough Street, Boston MA)
  
  Join this french novelist for a conversation on her family history with figures who contributed to the french cultural sphere in 1930s, yet were nearly erased from history due to political upheaval.
  
  She will be joined by Benoit Landon, the moderator of this discussion, who is a journalist and librarian at the French Library.
  
  This event is open to the public and will be followed by a Q&A and a book signing. Register here.