The apartment below

"I won't introduce myself, not yet. I'll explain later why I sometimes like to shake things up. You won't mind, I'm sure."

In the small Parisian building in the Marais where she has lived for ages, 103-year-old Hectorine one day sees the apartment above hers occupied by a new neighbor.

To welcome Sarah, the old lady leaves a letter on her doorstep. This letter will be followed by many others, gradually tracing an incredible journey through the 20th century, between Proust's Cabourg, Berlin under the Third Reich, and post-war Paris.

But why all these letters? "One day, you'll know," the centenarian promises Sarah, who gets caught up in the game, intrigued by this invisible neighbor whose confidences reveal the sting of a painful secret...

An unusual epistolary novel, a true hymn to life, transmission, and intergenerational friendship.

A jack-of-all-trades, Florence Herrlemann started with theatre, then music, sculpture, screenwriting and directing, before taking up the pen. L'Appartement du dessous (The Apartment Below) is her second novel, winner of five literary awards in France and Belgium.

📖 Review from Librairie du Grimoire Ancien

By our editorial & librarian committee

With L'Appartement du dessous, Florence Herrlemann delivers an epistolary novel of rare elegance, brilliantly reviving a literary genre too often neglected. Winner of five literary awards, this work fully deserves its recognition.

What particularly captivates us is the mirrored narrative structure: Hectorine, at 103, gradually reveals layers of her memory to Sarah, her young neighbor, through successive letters. This creates a progressive, almost initiatory intimacy, where each missive becomes a fragment of intergenerational transmission.

Hectorine's journey spans the major eras of the 20th century — Proustian Cabourg, Berlin under the Third Reich, liberated Paris — with historical accuracy and a sensitivity that avoids any academicism. The secret that emerges throughout the pages lends the narrative a subtle, almost mystical tension.

We recommend this novel to readers sensitive to memory literature, stories of lineage, and literary correspondence. It will naturally find its place alongside your introspective and contemplative readings.

Our rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — A delicate hymn to transmission, carried by an unforgettable centenarian voice.