The President's Hat

Starred review from September 15, 2013

Winner of the Prix Landerneau Decouvertes and Prix Relay des Voyageurs, this delightful "1980s fairy tale for adults" is the story of how a black felt hat belonging to French president Francois Mitterand transforms the lives of those who possess it. One November evening in 1986, Parisian accountant Daniel Mercier is enjoying a solitary plateau royal de fruits de mer when the head of state and his dinner companions are seated next to him. The awed Daniel prolongs his own meal until the presidential party departs two hours and seven minutes later. "Never again, he told himself, would he be able to eat oysters with vinegar without hearing those words: 'As I was saying to Helmut Kohl last week.' " Upon discovering that Mitterand forgot his hat, Daniel takes the chapeau as a souvenir and finds a new confidence when he wears it: "In a strange way, he felt that something of the President was there in the hat. Something intangible.... But whatever it was, it had the power of destiny." Daniel is promoted and transfers with his family to a new city, but the hat, left behind on the train, begins its journey from owner to owner, working its strange magic. VERDICT Laurain's gentle, satirical humor remind this reviewer of Jacques Tati's classic films, and, no, you don't have to know French politics to enjoy this charming novel. Fans of Muriel Barbery's The Elegance of the Hedgehog will want this. [Ten-city tour as part of ABA's "Indies Introduce Debut Authors" promotion; previewed in "A World of New Titles," LJ 7/13.--Ed.]--Wilda Williams, Library Journal

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.