Nathacha Appanah’s novel La nuit au cœur was declared a Prix Femina 2025 finalist in Paris, France, on Tuesday, October 21, 2025.
The Prix Femina is a French literary prize created by 22 writers for the magazine La Vie heureuse (today known as Femina) in 1904. It is decided each year by an exclusively female jury. They reward French-language works written in prose or verse by both women and men.
The 2025 jury comprises Nathalie Azoulai (president), Christine Jordis (vice-president), Evelyne Bloch-Dano, Brigitte Giraud, Paula Jacques, Mona Ozouf, Patricia Reznikov, Josyane Savigneau, and Julie Wolkenstein. Isabelle Desesquelles and Oriane Jeancourt Galignani. The premier selection (first selection), divided into the French and foreign titles that had been translated from different languages, was announced on Tuesday, September 9, before the second selection was made public on September 30.
The finalists announced on Tuesday, October 21, included Nathacha Appanah’s Gallimard-published La nuit au cœur. The novel interweaves three stories of women who are victims of violence at the hands of their partners. Walking the fine line between strength and humility, it examines the unbearable enigma of marital femicide, when the dark night takes the place of love.
The winner will be announced on Monday, November 3.
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