Hannelore Cayre's Books

Biography

Unconventional Upbringing

Hannelore Cayre (born 1963) is a lawyer, author, actress and director who lives in Paris. Her father ran a transport company that shipped goods to and from Asia. He used armoured trucks as he specialised in “risky trips” carrying “dubious cargo”. His team of drivers were largely ex-convicts.

“He felt that only they could accept staying on the trail for weeks on end and having to pee out of the window.” (Le Temps)

Cayre’s mother was an Austrian Jew who lived through the horrors of the World War Two Milles transit camp in Aix-en-Provence. According to Cayre, she survived because of her maiden name, Wilker. The Germans were supremely organised and filled the trains bound for Auschwitz in alphabetical order. The trains were always so crowded that they never reached W, and she escaped deportation.

Cayre was brought up in a large house in Yvelines, wedged between the Presidential hunting grounds and a major arterial road leading into Paris. There were frequent accidents on the street outside the house.

“When my grandmother, who lived with us, heard a big crash, she said: ‘Ah, that must be very good!’ Then she picked up her stool and went to watch the show.” (Le Journal du Dimanche)

Cayre’s relationship with her parents, particularly her mother, was not happy.

“My father was as handsome as Jean Marais, and my mother so magnificent that she had her portrait on the buildings in Paris. She used to say, ‘How could we have made such an ugly child when we were so beautiful? ‘” (Le Temps)

When her mother died, she had “She loved dogs” inscribed on her gravestone. Cayre claims she wanted to add: “And the Galeries Lafayette”, but her step-sister wouldn’t agree.

Early Career

Cayre was a studious and ambitious child. After studying literary and artistic property law, she joined France 3 Cinéma, where she ultimately became Finance Director.

“My primary job was ensuring that my boss’s expenses looked legal.” (Le Journal du Dimanche)

Tragedy struck in 1990 when she was in a horrific car accident on holiday in Chile with her first husband. The car fell into a ravine crushing her spine, and for five months, she was quadriplegic; it took two years to recover the full use of her limbs. Her husband walked away from the accident unharmed.

One of the worst parts of the experience was that she became reliant on drugs.

“I was deprived of morphine overnight and I spent my days screaming in pain. I had always been critical of drug addicts until then, but I never will be again: withdrawal is the most abominable thing.” (Le Temps)

Criminal Lawyer

The incident signalled a change in Cayre’s career, and she moved from commercial to criminal law, specialising in narcotics. She regularly defends teenagers who have been caught trafficking drugs and is outspoken in her views of the French state’s position.

“kids in prison for drug trafficking while fourteen million people smoke in France! It’s as serious as it is grotesque.” (Le Journal du Dimanche)

Being sworn into the Paris bar as a criminal lawyer gave her a unique insight into the French legal system and inspired her to write her first book in 2004.

Crime Fiction

Hannelore Cayre’s books are dark, sharp and funny. She casts a mocking eye over human desires, prejudices, and the French legal system.

She has written six novels and a science-fiction comic strip, Malossol Beach. Her first three novels (which aren’t available in English) feature Christophe Leibowitz-Berthier. He is an unscrupulous lawyer who is happy to defend Albanian pimps and drug traffickers. In 2009 Cayre directed a film of his exploits, Commis D’Office (Office Clerk).

Cayre’s two most recent novels have been translated into English.

The Godmother (La Daronne), is semi-autobiographical and became a runaway success. It won the French Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, German Deutscher Krimipreis and a British Dagger award. The Godmother is a middle-aged woman, come North African criminal mastermind.

The Inheritors (Richesse Oblige), is a story of a woman who became disabled after a car accident. On inheriting a pile of money, she decides to take her revenge on society.

For painfully clever sardonic humour, Cayre is the author to try.