A beautiful and moving novel about female relationships: with our mothers, our mentors, our peers. Concise and sparse in style, I found this book to be completely enthralling. An excellent debut!

This author has real talent and writes beautifully. The book is relationship-focused and the characters are fully-formed. It has a French feel to it, if that makes sense. It is literary fiction so it's not filled with action, and contains some potential triggers for more sensitive readers. Recommended for literature fans.

Thanks very much for the ARC for review!!

This is an impressive first effort by the writer, somewhat in the vein of Bonjour Tristesse (which it references).
The characters are well-formed and the narrative flows well -- I found it a quick absorbing read and especially enjoyed being transported to Paris.. The protagonist, Margot, provides a compelling first-person perspective of her experience as the secret daughter of a prominent politician living two lives, one in which he lives with his society wife and sons in one of Paris' toniest arrondissements and his less present life with his mistress, an actor/dancer and their daughter. The likability of many of the characters eludes us too frequently, which might be the novel's biggest flaw. It's easy to get in the head of a young woman who pines for more time with her important father versus the day to day life lived with her distant histrionic mother. But this seemingly intelligent insightful young woman screws the pooch, so to speak, and it all comes tumbling down. It can't just be explained by the folly of youth or her desire for normalcy. There's a crack in the character. If you've ever wondered about seemingly culturally sanctioned affairs in France a la Mitterand, you'll find yourself pulled in very easily.

Wow. That’s all I can say after finishing such a delicate and nuanced novel book early this morning. I have a couple of tears in my eyes which is a good thing, I enjoyed this book so much. Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Random House, and Hogarth Books for the ARC of The Margot Affair by Sanaë Lemoine in exchange for an honest review.

The Margot Affair is about a seventeen year old girl who is the product of an affair between a French stage actress named Anouk Louve and a French professor turned politician named Bertrand Lapierre. Margot and her mother live a relatively hidden life without anyone knowing who Margot’s father is. At times, her father comes to them and shares the responsibility of taking care of Margot. However, Margot has always yearned for more from him with an idea that her family can truly be together since she believes that her father doesn’t truly love his wife, Madame Lapierre and their two sons.

Immediately we are transported into Margot’s world with her mother, her best friend Juliette, and her mother’s closest friends—Mathilde and Théo. As someone who was raised by a single mother with a father who moved on from the relationship and married someone else, I could relate to Margot’s longing for her father. I felt tender-hearted towards her. The first few chapters explain the complex relationship between Margot and Anouk who live more like roommates. Their relationship isn’t as affectionate and a lot of times Margot felt like an afterthought in her mother’s glamorous and dramatic life. Their world is rocked when an article exposes the fact that Bertrand has been living a secret life for twenty years.

I was gutted for Margot when things didn’t play out how she thought it would. Tragedy strikes which sends Margot’s life into even more of a spiral as she navigates complicated feelings and relationships. She meets two writers, a journalist named David and his wife, a ghostwriter named Brigitte who are much older but she creates a bond with them as her life with her mother and best friend becomes even more strained. Margot’s desperation to be part of something important is felt throughout the delicately woven prose. There are no quotation marks in this book but it is well written and allows us to become fully transported into Margot’s thoughts, feelings, and emotions.

Margot does a lot of growing up throughout this book after experiencing tragedy, loss, grief, abandonment, and betrayal. It provides an interesting lens on the relationships between women, especially the relationship between parents and children. Another reviewer pointed out the voyeuristic aspect of this book and I agree. Margot is someone who prefers to stay hidden but she has such a sharp and mature view on the world around her. While she is wise and had to grow up fast, she still has an innocent hope in order to see the best in others. It’s naive but realistic and it makes me want to protect her with everything I have.

As a Francophile, I expected to enjoy this book. While written in English, it’s very French in terms of characterization and the narrative offered. Margot is unlike American teenagers and this book is unlike other teen narratives for an adult audience. I look forward to the release this summer and I recommend adding it to your summer reads.

Warnings: attempted suicide (character is talking about a past event), emotional abuse, slut-shaming, infidelity, and vivid sexual content. For American readers and others where the age of sexual consent is 18 years old, there is a sex between a minor and an adult.

Looking a the cover, you would assume that the book:

- take place in France
- feels like a 60's drama (think Audrey Hepburn, Leslie Caron, etc.)
- has a romance?


Only one of those things was correct. It took place in France.

While reading this book, I felt that I was not the proper audience. Finishing this book, I'm trying to figure out who exactly is the proper audience? You have a 17 year old girl, the daughter between a so-so actress of stage and a well-known politician. The politician has another life with his family (his wife and two sons), but can't bother to choose one over the other or bring the two together.

The daughter, after being somewhat snubbed on her birthday, decides to come clean - albeit anon - to a reporter and admit that her father has this other family.

I felt like this book was a bit... pretentious? It was trying to be something that it wasn't. The girl was a bit of a brat, and I found her completely unlikable (outside the situation that she had no choice in). I pretty much was strung along page after page of the author trying to milk this issue that comes about after her coming clean about her father's infidelity and I came to the conclusion: I don't care.

There is nothing moving, interesting, inspiring, or different. There should have been some type of scandal, or a cast of more interesting characters.

Oh, Margot! Such a perfectly flawed protagonist - I found myself invested in her from page 1, alternately cringing and cheering through her failures and successes. It made a perfect escapist read during these crazy times, I can't wait to share it.

This story unfolds through the eyes of 17 year old Margot. Her mother is a famous actor and her father is a rising politician. However, her father has a wife and children and she and her mother are his secret affair. Her father comes to see her sporadically. She wonders what it would be like if she had a full time father. As a young woman she does not always know who to trust. This book has a slower pace than most books. It is not action packed. It is the viewpoint of a young woman. It is really nice to sometimes read a book with a slower pace that delves into feelings and changes in someone's life. I did enjoy reading this book.

I received this ARC from Goodreads and St.Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review.

A fascinating family drama that firmly kept my interest. The storyline was exceptional and the characters engaging and believable.

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. From start finish to finish this was an extraordinary book!! You must read it you will love it like I did!

I initially liked the writing but gradually found it boring & NOTHING HAPPENED! I wound up skimming through to the end.

Yes!!! This was just the book I’ve been hoping for. Easy reading with so much to discuss in book group. Loved it.

Before I begin, I'd like to recommend that you queue up your favorite French composer to play as a soundtrack behind your reading of this book. I love Ravel, but you can pick whoever you'd like. Also, Sanaë Lemoine's website has recipes for the dishes talked about in the book! Whip up some clafoutis before you crack open this read!

The Margot Affair is a beautifully constructed debut novel from Sanaë Lemoine. Following Margot Louve, the opening chapters highlight the complicated relationship between a mother and daughter, which becomes even more nuanced with the added layer of a dark secret. Margot is the daughter, borne from a romance between her mother, an actress, and her father, a political figure of importance who happens to also be married to someone else.

As the narrative progresses, the writing focuses on the dynamic, emotional relationship between Margot and her parents. Her actress mother, Anouk, and largely absent father, a teacher turned politician. These chapters are full of descriptive language that pulls you into Margot's Paris apartment and paints a vivid picture of her delicate world. The reader is taken on a journey through her inner monologue, weaving through her desire to be closer to her mother and to feel wanted, her conflicting thoughts about her father's other family, and her absolute longing for a complete family unit filled with love and compassion. The reader can feel Margot's desperation as she describes her distant relationship with her mother, an actress who tends to stay in character, even when the play has concluded.

Throughout the narrative, the author returns to a familiar theme of space: how do we shape the space in which we exist and where is the center. This recurring motif inspires the reader to think critically about their space and how they exist inside of it. The author explores the incredibly nuanced question that many people deal with: is it better to tell the truth, or keep a secret.

I love the style choices in this book, particularly the lack of quotation marks. The pages blend into a seamless narrative of an extremely personal nature. I read this novel as if it were Margot's internal monologue. This nicely compliments the abundance of descriptive language, but does not burden the reader with explicit exposition. It is subtle, beautiful, and I could not put this book down.

This work does contain elements of emotional abuse, attempted suicide, and sexual content.

The Margot Affair is published by Hogarth and will be celebrating it's book birthday on June 16, 2020! This book NEEDS to be on your To Be Read list this summer!

Check out The Margot Affair on goodreads and Sanaë Lemoine's website.

3.5 stars:: Seventeen year old Margot wants nothing more than her to be recognized by her father, and to be recognized by his family. Their only moments together are fleeting and bittersweet, and even those are tinged with lies. Margot sees her chance and decides its time her father take responsibility, only to learn too late, her father had been there all along.

This is a beautifully written story; languid and elegant in its reserve. It might sound strange, but its spare yet detailed writing was like a feminized Hemingway. Strong, uncloying, and beautiful. Like a simple room of fine, well made furnishing and highlighted with only a single bloom. I felt as if I was reading someone's deeply sad, and honest diary. Ms. Lemoine's way with words pull at you, you feel Margot's want of the father who is never there, eclipsing the mother who is. While her own emotions and thoughts tear at her for these feelings.