For the first time in Russian - two new novels by Amelie Nothomb.

Sometimes we spend a long time wondering where this or that trait comes from in us, why we act one way or another. The clues lie in childhood, early childhood. Its events fall on the distant shelves of the subconscious and from there they secretly control our actions. The famous French writer Amelie Nothomb spent her childhood and youth overseas, in distant Japan, where her father was in the diplomatic service, and it was this country that forever defined the taste of happiness for her. The theme of Amelie Nothomb's new book “Happy Nostalgia” is a journey to the land of childhood in search of answers to the questions of today.

Writing, as we know, is a lonely business, fraught with doubt and risk. But when you manage to win, it turns out to be important who you share it with, because when alone, the joyful bubbles of the most exquisite brands of champagne quickly evaporate. In Amelie Nothomb’s new novel “Petronilla,” the heroine finds a strange companion for such moments, or rather, a companion, and a glass of collectible champagne in her company becomes a dangerous, sometimes deadly thing...