The autobiographical novel Heart by Thibault de Montaigu, published by Albin Michel in August, won the Interallié prize on Wednesday, November 13. He was distinguished by the jury in the first round with five votes, against two given to Badjens by Delphine Minoui and two others at Hut d’Abel Quentin.
The Interallié prize has an exclusively male jury, to which is added the winner of the previous edition. This year it was Gaspard Koenig.
A family investigation
Thibault de Montaigu said he was happy to join the list, after authors who influenced him. “I will tell you a little anecdote, it is that in my grandfather’s house, in the countryside, there were all the Folios, the first Folios from the 70s (…) And there are many authors who had the Interallié »he declared, citing Michel Déon, Félicien Marceau, Antoine Blondin, René Fallet or Roger Vaillant.
Heart evokes, among other things, the fate of an ancestor who attacked on horseback in 1914 but also that of the author’s father. “Heart was that of my father who was suffering from heart failure, who had a tired heart, and who was going to die from it. But what was important to me was that every time I spoke to him about my family investigation into this cavalry charge, I had the impression of giving him color, of giving him life again.declared the winner.