Laetitia Colombani is a French writer and filmmaker, best known for her bestselling novel, The Braid. Her stories often connect the lives of women from different parts of the world. Readers appreciate her for her direct and moving storytelling.
Der Zopf
Der Zopf
Synopsis
Der Zopf (The Braid), Laetitia Colombani's 2017 debut novel, weaves together the stories of three women whose lives are separated by geography and circumstance but linked by a single object: a braid of human hair.
In India, Smita, a Dalit woman condemned to clean latrines, risks everything to give her young daughter a different future. In Sicily, Giulia works in her family's failing wig-making workshop and must decide whether to save the business or follow her heart. In Canada, Sarah, a high-powered lawyer and single mother, is diagnosed with breast cancer and forced to confront a life built entirely around her career.
Told in alternating chapters, the three narratives never directly intersect until the very end, when Colombani reveals the thread — literally a braid of hair — that ties their fates together. The novel became a publishing phenomenon in France and has been translated into dozens of languages, praised for its unsentimental portrayal of women fighting against the constraints placed on them by caste, tradition, and illness.
Vibe
Genres
Characters
SmitaProtagonist
A Dalit woman in India who defies caste tradition to secure her daughter's education.
GiuliaProtagonist
A young woman in Sicily who works in her family's wig-making business.
SarahProtagonist
A Canadian lawyer and single mother facing a breast cancer diagnosis.
Edition
Der ZopfHardcover, Oct FISCHER TaschenbuchISBN: 9783596522668
4 editions available
