The centenary Prix Renaudot was awarded on Tuesday, November 3, to François-Henri Désérable for his novel Le Palais, published by Gallimard. The decision was made at the traditional venue of the Drouant restaurant in Paris, where the jury selected the winner by a vote of six to four.
Six novels were shortlisted for the award alongside the winner. David Djaïz's La méthode (Stock) received four votes, while the other finalists included Stay Free by Patrice Jean (Le Cherche midi), Un corps indocile by Osvalde Lewat (Philippe Rey), Eugénie sous les bombes by Anne Percin (Buchet Chastel), and Heures sauvages by Marie Petitcuénot (Éditions Héloïse d'Ormesson).
The jury notably excluded the work of Thélyson Orélien, whose novel C'était ça ou mourir (Grasset) was removed from contention after he admitted to using artificial intelligence in its writing.
Le Palais is Désérable's fifth novel and draws inspiration from the real-life trajectory of Rudy Kurniawan, an Indonesian wine expert convicted in 2014. Kurniawan received a ten-year prison sentence and was ordered to pay $28.5 million after running a counterfeiting operation in California where he mixed ordinary wines into bottles sold as prestigious vintages. His story has previously been the subject of two documentaries, including one for Netflix.
A review published by Le Monde des livres on September 20 noted that while the narrative premise is rich, the novel relies heavily on Désérable's extensive knowledge of the wine world and various anecdotes. The critique suggested that despite its focus on terroir and oenological jargon, the book lacks sensuality, embodiment, or depth, appearing to fill a lack of substance with verbosity.
Sources: Le Monde.