The Devil's Reward

Three generations of women untangle a complex family story that spans the twentieth century
and reveals unexpected insights about marriage and fidelity. Christiane, eighty-six years old with a vibrant sense of humor, lives alone in a large apartment in the heart of Paris. Her daughter, Catherine, could not be more different; sullen and uptight, she resents her unfaithful Milanese husband. After discovering yet another affair, Catherine takes refuge in Paris at her mother’s home, accompanied by her own daughter, Luna. Christiane, who in spite of occasional dalliances lived a beautiful love story with her late husband, uses all of her freethinking charm to try to wean Catherine of her rigid self-pity.

While listening to her mother and grandmother, Luna discovers, by chance, that her great-grandfather had met the philosopher Rudolf Steiner, the subject of the thesis she is writing. To satisfy Luna’s avid curiosity, Christiane tells the story of her family. Memories resurface, and past events are reconstructed, shedding new light on the present.

With a keen, lighthearted wit, The Devil’s Reward shows that life may be complicated and often painful, but if conventional morals prevail, it becomes unbearable.

Emmanuelle de Villepin was born in France in 1959. As a child she moved to Geneva, where she later attended law school, and then to New York. She has lived in Milan with her husband and three daughters since 1988. De Villepin is the author of several novels, including La vita che scorre (2013), which received the Rapallo Carige Prize; La ragazza che non voleva morire (2008), which received the Fenice-Europa Prize; and Tempo di fuga (2006). Her most recent novel, The Devil's Reward (2016), was short-listed for the Stresa Prize. De Villepin is fluent in French, Italian, and English.

C. Jon Delogu grew up in Portland, Maine, and received a PhD in comparative literature from Yale University in 1991. He is the author of two books on Emerson and Tocqueville, and has translated a dozen books on a variety of topics as well as scholarly articles. Since 2003 he has been a full professor in the English Department at the Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3 in Lyon, France.