Mal d’amour
First printing.
Journalist and novelist Jean Fayard (1902–1978) received the prize for this psychological novel devoted to the romantic disillusionments of Parisian youth. The award caused a stir: Fayard was the son of the publisher Arthème Fayard, and many suspected favoritism behind this success. It was, in any case, his only Goncourt, a fleeting but symbolic honor for a publishing house better known for popular fiction and which, in those same years, was enjoying great success with the early publications of a young Belgian novelist, Georges Simenon.
On 14 December 1931, the prize was awarded to him by seven votes to three. Many observers had expected Antoine de Saint-Exupéry to win for Vol de nuit, which received the Prix Femina instead.
From the “Prix Goncourt” library of Gérard Pouguet, with bookplate.