The Elegance of the Hedgehog

by Muriel Barbery

Madame Michel has the elegance of the hedgehog: on the outside, she’s covered in quills, a real fortress, but my gut feeling is that on the inside, she has the same simple refinement as the hedgehog: a deceptively indolent little creature, fiercely solitary—and terribly elegant.

Who is this hedgehog? She is Renée Michel, the concierge at number 7, rue de Grenelle. At fifty-four years of age, she is invisible to the world, or so she thinks. Her secret life as an autodidact is well hidden from the residents she serves. Or is it?

Two residents will discover her true identity: Paloma, the precocious twelve-year-old, and Kakuro, the new (and wealthy) Japanese resident in the building. Both individuals will enjoy the company of Renée and spend time philosophizing with her. They will change her life for the better, and she will make her mark on their lives.

At first, I could not stand this novel. Some of Renée’s philosophical essays verge on unreadable. And the voices, both Renée’s and Paloma’s, are sometimes beyond pretentious. But at some point, the actual story picks up, and I was drawn in by the promise of the characters and their interactions with each other.

12/30/09