Bakhita

A major novel and one of the literary sensations of the 2017 rentrée littéraire, Bakhita tells the story of Josephine Bakhita (c. 1869–1947), a child abducted in Darfur, sold and resold into slavery, and freed in Italy. She entered the Canossian Sisters and was canonized in 2000. An account of abduction, violence and the slow recovery of dignity through learning and faith, the novel won the Prix du roman Fnac 2017 and was later shortlisted for the Prix Goncourt 2017, losing to Éric Vuillard by 6 votes to 4.