Mal d’amour
One of the first 15 copies on Japanese paper (no. 10).
A journalist and novelist, Jean Fayard (1902–1978) won the prize for this psychological novel devoted to the romantic disillusionments of Parisian youth. The award proved controversial: Fayard was the son of the publisher Arthème Fayard, and many suspected family favor lay behind the novel’s success. It was, in any case, his only Goncourt, a fleeting but symbolic honor for a publishing house better known for popular fiction, which in these same years was enjoying great success with the first publications of a young Belgian novelist, Georges Simenon.
On 14 December 1931, the prize was awarded to Fayard by seven votes to three. Many observers had expected Antoine de Saint-Exupéry to win for Vol de nuit (Night Flight), which received the Prix Femina instead.
From the “Prix Goncourt” library of Gérard Pouguet, with bookplate.