A Certain Monsieur Piekielny

A novel that became a bestseller in France and made it onto the lists of all the major French literary awards.

A unique blend of genres.

The novel’s author is Kaetz (also known as Romain Gary, also known as Émile Ajar, also known as Fosco Sinibaldi and Chatane du Dieu)—one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. A resistance hero, a successful diplomat, and an untiring master of misdirection who managed—using a pseudonym—to win the Prix Goncourt, France’s main literary prize, twice, even though by definition it can only be awarded to an author once in a lifetime.

In his fictionalized autobiography “Promise at Dawn,” Gary mentions a certain Monsieur Pékelnev, who lived in Lithuanian Vilnius in a house next door to the family of a still very young Romain Kaetz. François-Henri Désérable sets out to find out whether such a person existed in reality, why the request he made to Romain Kaetz was so strange, and why it was so important for the legendary writer to fulfill it. In search of Monsieur Pékelnev, François-Henri travels through the entire life journey of Romain Gary—from childhood in Vilnius to the mysterious suicide in Paris.