French author Laurent Mauvignier has won this year's Goncourt Prize for his family chronicle "La maison vide" (The Empty House), French media reported. In the 750-page novel, Laurent Mauvignier explores his family's history, which he began after discovering an abandoned house that belonged to the family. Among other things, he writes about the woman whose head is cut off in all family photos.
With the award, the novel gets the classic red paper band over the cover and thus likely a sharp increase in sales, sometimes up to 500,000 copies. However, this is during a French book fall when sales have fallen by 5.7 percent according to Livres Hebdo.
The Goncourt Prize is France's most prestigious literary award.
