Plague and Cholera

A captivating novel about the brilliant scientist and polymath Alexandre Yerson, a French bestseller and shortlisted for every major French literary award
Paris, May 1940. Nazi troops storm the city and at Le Bourget airport, on the last flight out, sits Dr. Alexandre Yersin, his gaze politely turned away from his fellow passengers with their jewels sewn into their luggage. He is too old for the combat ahead, and besides he has already saved millions of lives. When he was the brilliant young protégé of Louis Pasteur, he focused his exceptional mind on a great medical conundrum: in 1894, on a Hong Kong hospital forecourt, he identified and vaccinated against bubonic plague, later named in his honor Yersinia pestis. Swiss by birth and trained in Germany and France, Yersin is the son of empiricism and endeavor; but he has a romantic hunger for adventure, fuelled by tales of Livingstone and Conrad, and sets sail for Asia. A true traveler of the century, he wishes to comprehend the universe. Medicine, agriculture, the engine of the new automobile, all must be opened up, examined, and improved. Ceaselessly curious and courageous, Yersin stands, a lone genius, against a backdrop of world wars, pandemics, colonialism, progress, and decadence. He is brought to vivid, thrilling life in this captivating novel, which was a bestseller and shortlisted for every major literary award in France.

Literature & Fiction

Patrick Deville

Contemporary

Little, Brown Book Group

The extraordinary life and times of a women as told by seven authors.

S: A Novel

Mark Polizzotti

Jean Echenoz

Harry Mathews

Florence Delay

Sonja Greenlee

Oliver Rolin

Brookline Books

Le prix Femina 2012 arrive en poche! Un roman d aventures qui nous plonge dans la formidable épopée scientifique des vaccins. Parmi les jeunes chercheurs qui ont constitué la première équipe de l Institut Pasteur, Alexandre Yersin aura mené la vie la plus mouvementée. Très vite, il part en Asie, se fait marin, puis explorateur. Découvreur à Hong Kong, en 1894, du bacille de la peste, il s installe en Indochine, à Nha Trang, loin du brouhaha des guerres, et multiplie les observations scientifiques. C est cette formidable aventure scientifique et humaine que raconte Patrick Deville en croisant les périodes et les personnages autour de la figure de Yersin. « Un roman très particulier. [...] On découvre la réalité complète de cet homme-là par petites touches. C est absolument fascinant. C est très joliment écrit. Un bouquin qui m a plongé dans le bonheur. Ça vaut vraiment le détour. » ? René Homier-Roy, Radio-Canada/C est bien meilleur le matin  « Grande réussite que ce roman érudit et passionnant, consacré à un scientifique moins connu que son maître, Pasteur, mais moins embaumé par la légende, aussi. » **** ? Chantal Guy, La Presse  « Cette palpitante investigation, très aboutie, commencée dans Kampuchéa, devrait lui attirer un prix. Quel que soit le sort qui attend ce livre étonnant, emparez-vous-en, et que les choses poursuivent leur cours. » ? Guylaine Massoutre, Le Devoir

Peste & Cholera (English and French Edition)

Editions Du Seuil

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Patrick Deville. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Patrick Deville