Madelaine Before The Dawn

A spellbinding tale of female defiance and rage

In a time outside time, in a world hemmed in by dark woods and silence, the villagers of Les Montes endure a life of hardship and submission. The land is stingy, the Lords are merciless, and for the village women, resistance is a futile dream.

One day, a foundling appears at the edge of the forest. Madelaine grows up to be mysterious, magnetic, and shockingly adept with an axe. One day, she slaughters a stag in defiance of the Lord's decrees. The land, the laws, and the lives of those around her tremble in response, and a new destiny begins to take root.

Madelaine Before the Dawn is a wild, lyrical novel about the inheritance of silence and the fire of female defiance. Collette has created an electrifying vision of revolt and resilience at the edge of civilization.

About the author

Sandrine Collette was born in Paris in 1970. She divides her time between Nanterre, where she teaches philosophy and literature, and Burgundy, where she has a horse stud farm. She is the author of numerous novels, including Nothing but Dust (Europa, 2018), winner of the Landerneau Prize for crime fiction, and After the Wave (Europa, 2020).
Alison Anderson’s translations for Europa Editions include novels by Sélim Nassib, Amélie Nothomb, and Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt. She has translated all of Muriel Barbery’s books, including the international bestseller The Elegance of the Hedgehog.

Product details

• Authors: Sandrine Collette
• Assisted by: Alison Anderson (Translation)
• Publisher: Europa Editions
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Release: 12.03.2026
• EAN: 9781787706170
• ISBN: 978-1-78770-617-0
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature; Fiction > Narrative literature > Contemporary literature (from 1945); FICTION / Coming of Age, Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945), FICTION / Magical Realism, FICTION / Historical / Medieval, FICTION / Feminist, Modern and contemporary fiction: literary and general, FICTION / Family Life / Parenthood & Children, FICTION / Death, Grief, Bereavement