Publication Date: February 11, 2025
Winner of the Prix Goncourt
A powerful autobiographical novel of loss, the incandescent love that remains, and the small decisions that define the course of fate
Paced and structured with the inevitable suspense of a countdown, Brigitte Giraud’s tense and haunting novel follows one woman’s quest to comprehend the motorcycle accident that took the life of her partner Claude at age 41.
The narrator of Live Fast recounts the chain of events that led up to the fateful accident, tracing the tiny, maddening twists of fate that might have prevented its tragic outcome. Each chapter asks the rhetorical question, “what if,” departing from an image or memory from early years in Algeria during the war, to moving to the suburbs of Lyon, buying and renovating a home where they could “put down their suitcase for a whole life.” A sensitive elegy to her husband and a subtle, precise vision of a lasting love, Live Fast is a moving and electrifying portrait of two people caught up in the mundane activities of life, forgetting that living itself can be dangerous.
How do you say goodbye to the man you planned to spend the rest of your life with? For Brigitte Giraud, it takes 20 years of intense questioning, culminating in the book Live Fast.
Giraud takes readers through a series of events leading up to her husband’s death. The chapters start with an “if” statement that could have prevented his accident.
Along the way, we get a glimpse into her personal pain of moving into the home she and Claude planned to remodel, along with life as a single parent.
At just over 150 pages, the narrative captures your attention. Even though the end (and her loss) is inevitable, there’s much to be admired about her sense of resilience.
Live Fast underscores the importance of cherishing every moment as if it were your last.
Brigitte Giraud is a French writer and novelist and the author of fourteen books. She received the 2022 Prix Goncourt for Live Fast, which was also a big bestseller in France. Live Fast is her first book to be published in English.
