An intimate, captivating first novel that tells the story of a family in southern France whose lives are intertwined with the history of the AIDS...

An intimate, captivating first novel that tells the story of a family in southern France whose lives are intertwined with the history of the AIDS crisis--and with the forgotten French doctors who are among the first to detect the virus.

It's 1981. As a wave of mysterious infections sweeps across the United States, a doctor in Paris encounters something unexpected: a case of a disease long thought to have been eradicated. It matches what is happening across the Atlantic--and thus begins a race to make sense of a deadly virus, one that will define a generation.

Miles away, in rural France, Anthony Passeron's family is dealing with a crisis of their own. Their small village is gripped by another epidemic: heroin addiction. Anthony's uncle D?sir?, once the pride of the family, has become one of the "sleeping children." Often found unconscious on street corners, he is now a stranger to his family. As D?sir?'s life descends into chaos, the thunder of the AIDS crisis grows closer. These two stories--one intimate, one global--are about to collide.

Anthony Passeron's moving novel is also an eye-opening story about shame and the slow poisoning that secrets can inflict on a family. Exploring the stories of the heroic few who fought not only for a cure but for justice for an abandoned community, Sleeping Children is a radical vision of a history reshaped, retold, and remembered.

Author: Anthony Passeron
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Published: 04/29/2025
Pages: 208
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.70lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.60w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9780374612269


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 02/10/2025

About the Author

Anthony Passeron was born in Nice, France, in 1983. He teaches French literature and the humanities in a secondary school. Published in sixteen languages, Sleeping Children is his first novel. It was awarded many prizes in France, including the Prix Wepler and the Prix Premi?re Plume.

Frank Wynne has translated the work of numerous French and Hispanic authors, including Michel Houellebecq, Patrick Modiano, Javier Cercas, and Virginie Despentes. His work has earned him many prizes, including the Scott Moncrieff Prize, the Premio Valle Incl?n, and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award with Houellebecq for The Elementary Particles. His translation of Jean Baptiste Del Amo's Animalia won the 2020 Republic of Consciousness Prize.