The Godmother
Report an issue
Tell us what's wrong and we'll take a look.
Thanks – we got it. We'll review and follow up if needed.
WINNER: EUROPEAN CRIME FICTION PRIZE
WINNER: GRAND PRIX DE LITTÉRATURE POLICIÈRE
Meet Patience Portefeux - 53 years old, widowed mother of two, fluent Arabic speaker, upstanding French citizen... and soon to become The Godmother.
For 25 years she has toiled honestly, translating police wire-taps of north African drug gangs. She knows she's just a footsoldier in a senseless politicians' war against high-grade hashish, a tiny cog in the state machinery of racism and repression. But it's always paid the bills - until now.
The scrimping French state pays its translators 'off the books', meaning there'll be no pension to reward her long years of service. With her mother's extortionate care home eating her savings, a lonely and impoverished old age lies ahead. So when Patience gets the chance to take possession of a vast stash of top-quality Moroccan Khardala, she doesn't hesitate long. Exit the grey-suited civil servant. Enter The Godmother. Life in the banlieues will never be the same again.
Stephanie Smee
Translated by
Stephanie Smee is a translator into English of all things literary and French. Having worked as a lawyer in Sydney and London, Stephanie happily traded in a legal career for a return to her linguistic calling. After several years as a legal translator, she left the world of financing documents behind and made her literary translation début with a new English translation of the Countess de Ségur’s Fleurville Trilogy published in 2010 by Simon & Schuster (Australia). The Trilogy includes the perenially popular Sophie’s Misfortunes, first published in France in 1858 and in print ever since. Her new translation of another of the Countess’ favourites, Monsieur Cadichon: Memoirs of a Donkey was published at the end of 2011.
Why Readwise Books?
Readwise Books is an ebook & audiobook platform that automatically logs how much you and your friends read, making it fun and easy to read more. Learn more →