An unforgettable memoir about a life of adventure in the great outdoors and the power of a dog's transformative love

‘Cédric Sapin-Defour’s celebration of the life of Ubac has made him a literary sensation’ Sunday Times

‘A tribute to the love humans feel for their pets’ Guardian

A tiny ad in a local newspaper catches Cédric Sapin-Defour’s eye: a litter of Bernese Mountain Dog puppies need homes. A lonely, single, sports teacher and mountain climber in the French Alps, Cédric visits the dogs and immediately falls for the puppy with a blue collar.

Named Ubac, French for the north side of the mountain – the rainy, cloudy slope – the puppy quickly upends Cédric’s life. They go on hikes together, taking to the hills and exploring, forging a bond that brings joy and a sense of fulfilment and adventure. They brave the world together, hate to be apart, crave the mountains and the natural world; they protect each other.

Over the course of thirteen years, their pack expands to include Mathilde, Cédric’s wife, and more dogs. Ubac and Me is an intimate meditation on a joyous life lived too fast, the aching pain of separation, and the transformative effect of unconditional love.

Ubac and Me has been a word-of-mouth sensation, selling over half a million copies in France.

Translated by Adriana Hunter.

A beautifully written memoir, infused with alpine light and mountain silence, that makes a case for slowing down, for noticing, for remembering * Daily Express *

Cédric Sapin-Defour (Author)
Cédric Sapin-Defour is a French writer, sports teacher and mountaineer, whose work focuses on the slightly crazy dream that man and nature can learn to live together again. He lives in the small Alpine town of Beaufort, with Mathilde and Lulu, their adopted Romanian street dog. Ubac and Me has been a surprise bestseller and word-of-mouth sensation in France, selling more than half a million copies.

Adriana Hunter (Translator)
Adriana Hunter has translated more than one hundred books, and has won or been shortlisted for numerous translation prizes, most recently as the runner-up for the 2024 Scott Moncrieff Prize for her translation of Hervé Le Tellier’s The Anomaly. She lives in Kent, England.