Françoise Mallet-Joris is a collector of simple things: scraps of phrases, situations, anecdotes. Children argue at breakfast, the housekeeper sings, forgetting about the dirty dishes, random people wander into the apartment and stay overnight... From everyday incidents, Mallet-Joris masterfully draws out life in its true charm. For humor and psychologism, for her subtle observation, the owner of the “paper house” was awarded many literary awards. She also happened to be vice-president of the Goncourt Academy and a member of the Royal Belgian Academy of French Language and Letters.

“Françoise Mallet-Joris perfectly conveys the thrill of emotions and her ironic, critical view of others: her talent lies in rare naturalness and fidelity to life.”LʼExpress