Baroness Fabienne Claire Nothomb, born on August 13, 1967, is a Belgian novelist who is better known by her pen name, Amélie Nothomb. She is a Francophone writer, meaning she speaks and writes in French. She spent part of her childhood in Asia.

Amélie Nothomb has written many books. Her first novel, Hygiene and the Assassin, was published in 1992 when she was 26 years old. Since then, she has written one book each year. Her books are among the most popular in literature and have been translated into many languages.

She has received honors for her work, including being named a Commander of the Order of the Crown. King Philippe of Belgium gave her the title of Baroness. Her book Fear and Trembling, which humorously describes life in a Japanese company, won the Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française in 1999. In 2015, she was chosen to join the Royal Academy of French Language and Literature in Belgium.

Biography

Research shows that Amélie Nothomb was born in Etterbeek, Brussels-Capital Region, on July 9, 1966. As an artist, she has said in a metaphorical way that she was born in Kobe, Japan, in 1967, even though records show she lived there only from age two to five. Later, she lived in China, New York City, Bangladesh, Burma, the United Kingdom (Coventry), and Laos. She comes from a Belgian noble family. Her father was Patrick Nothomb, a Belgian diplomat. She is the grandniece of Charles-Ferdinand Nothomb, a Belgian foreign minister from 1980 to 1981, and the great-granddaughter of Pierre Nothomb, a writer and politician. She has one brother, André Nothomb, and one sister, Juliette Nothomb, who writes children’s books.

While in Japan, Nothomb attended a local school and learned Japanese. At age five, her family moved to China. She wrote in Fear and Trembling that leaving Japan was “a wrenching separation for me.” She studied philology, which is the study of languages, at the Université libre de Bruxelles. After finishing her studies, she returned to Japan to work for a company in Tokyo. Her experiences during this time are described in Fear and Trembling.

Nothomb’s first novel, Hygiène de l'assassin, was published in 1992. Since then, she has written about one novel each year, including Les Catilinaires (1995), Fear and Trembling (1999), and Métaphysique des tubes (2000). She has won many awards, such as the 1993 Prix Jacques-Chardonne, the 1999 Grand Prix du roman de l’Académie française, and the Grand prix Jean Giono in 2008. She became a member of the Belgium Royal Academy of French language and literature in 2015.

In 2002, she wrote a romanticized biography called The Book of Proper Names about French singer Robert. From 2000 to 2002, she also wrote the lyrics for nine songs by Robert.

A documentary titled Amélie Nothomb: une vie entre deux eaux (A Life Between Two Waters), co-written and directed by Laurelinne Amanieux and Luca Chiari, was made in 2012. It focuses on Nothomb’s return to Japan, her rediscovery of the country’s landscapes and traditions, her reflections on the sadness of Fukushima, and her meeting with her Japanese nursemaid, Nishio San.

By a Royal Decree on July 8, 2015, Nothomb was given the title of baroness, which is not passed down to family members.

Her novel Premier sang describes the fictional memoirs of her father, who died in 2020. The book was written in the first person and won the Prix Renaudot in 2021.

Adaptations

Starring: Valérie Mairesse, Pétronille de Saint-Rapt, Vanessa Jarry. Directed by: Annabelle Milot.

Starring: Pauline Foschia, Jeanne Gougeau, Laurence Vielle. Adapted and directed by: Brigitte Bailleux, Laurence Vielle.

Starring: John Durand and Olivier Renault. Adapted and directed by: Emmanuel Samatani and Jean-Daniel Uldry.

Starring: Michel Boy, Julie Turin, Grégory Gerrebo. Directed by: Stéphane Cottin.

Starring: Cécile Schletzer and Claire Rieussec. Directed by: Claire Rieussec.

Starring: Daniel Hanssens, Nathalie Cornet, Valérie Marchand, and Vincent Lécuyer. Directed by: Pierre Santini.

Starring: Nathalie Cornet, Michel Hinderyckx, Jessica Gazon, Stéphanie Blanchoud. Adapted and directed by: Christine Delmotte.

Starring: Philippe Doré, Freddy Zimmer, Florine Moreau. Directed by: Hubert Vinzani.

Starring: Layla Metssitane. Adapted and directed by: Layla Metssitane.

Eight novels by Amélie Nothomb were adapted into audiobooks. The first four were published by "VDB," and the others were published by "Audiolib":

Format: 3 audio CDs (duration: 3 hours and 15 minutes, full text), reference: V.D.B. 008.

Format: 3 audio CDs (duration: 2 hours and 52 minutes, full text), reference: V.D.B. 033. Musical illustration: Thierry Duhamel.

Format: 4 audio CDs (duration: 4 hours and 17 minutes, full text), reference: V.D.B. 074. Musical illustration: Thierry Duhamel.

Format: 3 audio CDs (duration: 5 hours and 39 minutes, full text), reference: V.D.B. 104. Musical illustration: Thierry Duhamel.

Format: 1 audio CD (duration: 3 hours and 50 minutes, full text), reference: Audiolib 25 0012 02.

Format: 1 audio CD (duration: 3 hours and 0 minutes, full text), reference: Audiolib 25 0049 4.

Format: 2 audio CDs (duration: 1 hour and 54 minutes, full text), reference: Audiolib 25 0129 4.

Format: 1 audio CD (duration: 2 hours and 42 minutes, full text), reference: Audiolib 25 281 3.