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Bérénice 1934-44: An Actress in Occupied Paris is the debut novel of Isabelle Stibbe, an important new voice in French literature. When the book was published in France, it won nine literary awards, including the Prix Simone Veil, honoring a work that celebrates a woman of action.

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The winner of nine literary awards in France, including the Prix Simone Veil, celebrating a woman of action, Bérénice 1934-44: An Actress in Occupied Paris is Isabelle Stibbe´s poignant debut novel. Now translated into English by Zack Rogow and Renée Morel, Bérénice 1934-44 reveals a young woman´s struggle to fulfill her career aspirations while concealing herself in war-torn France.

Bérénice yearns to become an actress, but her parents insist that career is not proper for a girl. She defies her Jewish family to become the leading younger actress in the Comédie-Fran‡aise, France´s most renowned theater, right when the Nazis occupy France. Bérénice hides her true identity and last name to avoid detection. Living in a world without tolerance and torn between two lovers, Bérénice must choose between her passion for the stage, and her allegiance to freedom and to her Jewish heritage.

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Critical Praise for the Original French Edition : "This is an amazing first novel."- Le Nouvel Observateur

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Isabelle Stibbe is an important new voice in French fiction. She has served as director of publications at the Comédie-Fran‡aise and the Grand Palais, and as secretary general of the Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet. Stibbe is the theater critic for the magazine La Terrasse. This is her first novel, published to critical acclaim in 2013.

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