The Annual Banquet of the Gravediggers' Guild

To research his thesis on contemporary agrarian life, anthropology student David Mazon moves from Paris to La Pierre-Saint-Christophe, a village in the marshlands of western France. Determined to understand the essence of the local culture, the intrepid young scholar scurries around restlessly on his moped to interview residents.

But what David doesn't yet know is that in this seemingly ordinary place (once the stage for wars and revolutions) Death leads a dance: when one thing perishes, the Wheel of Life recycles its soul and hurls it back into the world as microbe, human, or wild animal, sometimes in the past, sometimes in the future. 

Welcome to the Annual Banquet of the Gravediggers' Guild, a 3-day feast where where gravediggers gorge themselves on food, drink, and language, and Death and the living observe a temporary truce.

Brimming with Mathias Énard's characteristic wit and encyclopedic brilliance, The Annual Banquet of the Gravediggers' Guild is a riotous novel where the edges between past and present are constantly dissolving.

432 pages. Paperback. 

About the Author

Mathias Énard is the author of Compass (shortlisted for the 2017 Man Booker International Prize), Tell Them of Battles, Kings, and Elephants, Zone, and Street of Thieves.

About the Translator

Frank Wynne has translated the work of numerous French and Hispanic authors, including Michel Houellebecq, Patrick Modiano, Javier Cercas, and Virginie Despentes. His work has earned him many prizes, including the Scott Moncrieff Prize and the Premio Valle Inclán.