Moroccan · b. 1981
Leïla Slimani writes about the darkness in domestic spaces. The Moroccan-French author's "Chanson douce" (2016)—translated as "The Perfect Nanny"—opens with two children dead and their nanny responsible, then works backward to explain nothing while illuminating everything. The novel won the Prix Goncourt and became an international sensation. Slimani writes about class, motherhood, immigration, and the violence that simmers beneath bourgeois life. She has also served as Emmanuel Macron's personal representative for Francophone affairs.