A novel about passion, death, and the ambiguous relationship between art and reality

Antonia grows up in rural Corsica, a place of deeply-rooted traditions and strong family ties. When she’s fourteen, her uncle, a priest, gives her a camera—suddenly changing the way she looks at the world and igniting a life-long passion. 

Over two decades later, Antonia runs into Dragan, a soldier whom she had met when she was reporting on the war in the former Yugoslavia. The two spend the night in deep conversation, reminiscing about their experience of the conflict. As she drives home, Antonia loses control of her car, plunges off a cliff and is killed instantly. Tasked with officiating at her funeral, Antonia’s uncle is forced to reflect on her life and legacy and on the profound questions they beg about ambition and doubt, passion and guilt, representation and reality.

Wide in scope but rich in detail, restrained yet deeply moving, In His Own Image weaves together the story of a life with universal themes that resonate across time and space.

"Luminous." * La Republique des Livres *
"A resounding success." * France Culture *
"Masterly." * Grazia *
"An intriguing story." * Publisher's Weekly *

Born in Paris in 1968, Jérôme Ferrari is an author, translator and teacher. His novel The Sermon on the Fall of Rome won the Goncourt Prize. He is also the author of Where I Left My Soul (MacLehose) and The Principle (Europa). Alison Anderson’s translations for Europa Editions include novels by Sélim Nassib, Amélie Nothomb, and Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt. She is the translator of Muriel Barbery’s novels The Elegance of the Hedgehog, The Life of Elves and A Single Rose.