AUBERT, Brigitte 1956-

PERSONAL: Born 1956, in Cannes, France.

ADDRESSES: Home—Cannes, France. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Welcome Rain Publishers, 23 West 26th Street, New York, NY 10010.

CAREER: Writer. Works for a movie theatre.

AWARDS, HONORS: Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, for Death from the Woods, 1997.

WRITINGS:

Les quatre rils du Dr March, Seuil (Paris, France), 1992.

La rose de fer, Seuil (Paris, France), 1993.

Ténébres sur Jacksonville, Seuil (Paris, France), 1994.

La mort des bois, Seuil (Paris, France), 1996, translation published as Death from the Woods, Welcome Rain (New York, NY), 2000.

Requiem Caraïbes, Seuil (Paris, France), 1997.

(With Gisèle Cavali) Ranko tango, Seuil (Paris, France), 1998.

Transfixions, Seuil (Paris, France), 1998.

La morsure des ténébres, Seuil (Paris, France), 1999.

(With Gisèle Cavali) Passagère san retour, Albin Michel, 1999.

Eloge de la Phobie, Le Masque, 2000.

Le couturier de la mort, Seuil (Paris, France), 2000.

La mort des neiges, Seuil (Paris, France), 2000, translation published as Death from the Snows, Welcome Rain (New York, NY), 2001.

Descente d'organes, Seuil (Paris, France), 2001.

Also author of short stories, screenplays, and dramas.

SIDELIGHTS: Brigitte Aubert is a popular French thriller writer who has had some of her works translated into English. The first was Death from the Woods, which earned her the Grand Prix de Littérapture Policière. The sequel Death from the Snows is also available in English. Aubert has more than a dozen titles published in French.

The protagonist of Death from the Woods is an unlikely figure to turn detective, a young French woman who has been rendered quadriplegic, blind, and mute by an IRA bombing while vacationing in Ireland. Elise has also lost her fiancée and is recuperating in a small town near Paris where a series of child-murders has taken place. A little girl confides to Elise that she knows who the murderer is, forcing the helpless woman to find some way to communicate what she has learned. As events unfold, Elise finds that her own life is in danger.

The story's remarkable premise and Aubert's sensitivity to the plight of her heroine were praised by critics. London's Sunday Telegraph reviewer Susanna Yager described the book as "gripping reading" that features "a memorable and heroic character." In a review for the London Daily Telegraph, Andrew Biswell recommended the book as something to be read "for its original approach to telling a story." He said the author "succeeds in imagining the daily life of her disabled heroine" and called the detective work "a triumph of persistent logic over unpromising circumstances." Booklist reviewer Barbara Bibel found that Death from the Woods "offers an engaging puzzle as well as a sympathetic glimpse into the world of the severely disabled." A Kirkus Reviews writer was impressed by Aubert's "taut, suggestive characterizations" of Elise's acquaintances and called the work "a beautifully constructed tale that grows scarier by the page." And a Publishers Weekly critic deemed that the author "acquits herself brilliantly" in creating Elise's story. The writer concluded, "never stooping to melodrama or pity, she uses Elise's marvelous sense of humor and intellect to create an unforgettable character."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, February 15, 2000, Barbara Bibel, review of Death from the Woods, p. 1086.

Daily Telegraph (London, England), January 27, 2001, Andrew Biswell, "You've Been Framed."

Kirkus Reviews March 1, 2000, review of Death from the Woods.

Publishers Weekly, January 24, 2000, review of Death from the Woods, p. 292.

Sunday Telegraph (London, England), February 4, 2001, Susanna Yager, "Courtroom Dramatics," p. 15.*