Dear residents of Apartment No:26’s Attic Floor—today on our table sits one of the most original and unsettling voices in French literature: Anne Serre. Published by Dedalus Kitap in November 2025 with Aslı Anar’s meticulous translation, “The Leopard Hat” pulls us out of the boundaries of an ordinary novel and drops us straight into a mental labyrinth.
This book is not merely a story; it is a feeling, an atmosphere, and a provocative rehearsal of intimacy.
Fanny and the Narrator: An Anatomy of Closeness
At the heart of the novel stand Fanny—a fragile character struggling with mental illness—and the “Narrator” who tries to understand and protect her world. Yet Anne Serre does not tell a conventional patient–caregiver or grief story. Instead, she dissects the privacy, strangeness, and sharp emotional shifts of the bond between these two figures with surgical precision.
Fragility and Sharpness: The more chaotic and uncertain Fanny’s world becomes, the clearer and more piercing the narrator’s observations grow.
Traces of a Search: A journey in pursuit of lost memories, traumas, and innocence.
The Aesthetics of Uncertainty: Rather than rewarding the reader with answers, Serre invites us to savor the taste of questions and ambiguity.
Language as a “Tactile Labyrinth”
The term “tactile labyrinth” fits Anne Serre’s style perfectly… The author constructs even the most ordinary sentence in such a way that you feel the weight of time, space, and emotion of the moment on your skin. From a forgotten childhood memory to a sudden mental fracture, everything forms a fragmented yet invisibly threaded whole.
❝ Serre transforms a simple story into an extraordinary density of feeling. — Merve Emre ❞
Ambience: Set the Scene While Reading This Book
To fully immerse yourself in this intense 144-page narrative, I recommend creating an atmosphere that matches the book’s spirit:
Lighting: The yellow, melancholic hour of late afternoon sunlight spilling into the room.
Sound: Minimalist and slightly “empty” music in the background, such as Erik Satie’s Gymnopédies series.
Setting: A quiet corner by the window, not too crowded. Let the contrast between the fast world outside and the slow, deep dissolution inside heighten the experience.
“The Leopard Hat” does not leave you with just a story when it ends; it leaves a voice echoing in the most intimate corners of your mind. If you value the texture of emotion and the power of language over plot in literature, this short yet monumental novel will become one of the most special pieces in your 2026 library.
Wishing you joyful and profound reading!
