Hunting and Gathering, Gavalda, Anna

Camille is doing her best to disappear. She barely eats, works at night as a cleaner and lives in a tiny attic room. Downstairs, in a beautiful, ornate apartment, lives Philibert Marquet de La Durbelliere, a shy, erudite upper-class man with an unlikely flatmate in the shape of the foul-mouthed but talented chef, Franck. One freezing evening Philibert overcomes his excruciating reticence to rescue Camille, unconscious, from her garret and bring her into his home. .As she recovers Camille learns more about Philibert; about Franck and his guilt for his beloved but fragile grandmother Paulette, who is all he has left in the world; and about herself. And slowly this curious quartet of misfits all discover the importance of food, friendship, and love.