Winner of Grand prix des lectrices de Elle: Categorie Roman (Elle Readers Grand Prize: Fiction) 2009.

'A gem of a book! 400 pages which crack like a whip, slap you in the face and ultimately explode, leaving you stunned and blissful' - Francois Busnel, L'Express. 'This is a novel strung together from sentences as spare as its geographical background, and a deft translation carries evocative echoes of the French original' - Hephzibah Anderson, Daily Mail. 'The unravelling of the mystery at its core is compelling and convincing' - Alannah Hopkin, Irish Examiner. 'By drawing on the everyday, the small rituals, the uneasy exchanges, Gallay has written a slow-moving, calm, complicated and compelling novel that balances stagnation and panic, acceptance and denial, all juxtaposed with the way the past insists on shaping the present' - Eileen Battersby, Irish Times. 'This is so atmospheric it transports you straight to the storm-lashed fishing village full of strange characters with old gripes still looming over their relations ... it seethes with loss, intrigue and secrets' - U Magazine.

Claudie Gallay is a teacher who lives in Provence. Her previous novels have all been well received, but The Breakers was her breakthrough novel, becoming a runaway bestseller in France. Alison Anderson's translations include Muriel Barbery's bestselling novel The Elegance of the Hedgehog. She is also the author of two novels, Hidden Latitudes and Darwin's Wink.