David Colmer

In 1989, twenty-year-old Marie jumps at the chance to work as au pair in Paris-even though it means dropping out of her prestigious art programme in the Netherlands. The city, the language, the complicated French family she works for all quickly overshadow the turmoil and pain she''d been reckoning with in school. Even as her experiences with the family in Paris begin to echo the troubles left in the Netherlands, Marie pushes on. Years later, during the 2015 attacks in Paris, Marie is shocked to recognise her former teacher, and the main reason she fled the Netherlands, pictured in aftermath of the attacks, in the exact arrondissement where her previous employers live. The past she believed she''s untethered from turns out to be be a knot still capable of constricting tightly around her. Can she face Paris-and what she ran away from to get to Paris-and finally disentangle herself from her past?

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER: The first in a series of witty, philosophical animal stories with whimsical illustrations - for adult fans of The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and His Horse! We've all been there: When a lonely hedgehog hosts a party for his friends, he's suddenly wracked by social anxiety and self-doubt... The hedgehog is feeling rather lonely, so one day he decides to invite all the other animals for a party. But the hedgehog is also rather a shy, reserved animal, and is terribly worried about doing or saying something he shouldn't, and about all the things that could go wrong. What if nobody comes? What if too many of them come? What if the elephant shows up and breaks all the furniture? Will anyone be able to hear the hedgehog talk above the frog's croaking? Maybe inviting the others over wasn't such a good idea after all... An international bestseller, with more than 1 million copies sold in the Netherlands, The Hedgehog's Dilemma is the perfect gift for the shy, retiring 'hedgehog' in your life. This lovely-and loving book-addresses deep emotional and philosophical themes with humor, kindness, and intelligence.