The 2025 Prix Renaudot Honors a Rediscovered Literary Figure
On Tuesday, November 4, 2025, the Prix Renaudot was awarded to Adélaïde de Clermont-Tonnerre for her novel Je voulais vivre, published by Grasset. The announcement was made at the renowned Drouant restaurant in Paris's 2nd arrondissement, close to the Opéra Garnier.
This prestigious award celebrates a bold work that revives one of the most complex and controversial female figures in French literature: Milady de Winter, the arch-nemesis from Alexandre Dumas's The Three Musketeers.
Since 1926, the Renaudot jury has gathered in this iconic Place Gaillon restaurant, a key venue in Parisian literary culture that also hosts the Goncourt prize deliberations since 1914. This longstanding tradition cements Le Drouant as a vital site for France’s literary heritage.
The ten jurors, led by Patrick Besson and including renowned members Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, Franz-Olivier Giesbert, and Dominique Bona, selected Adélaïde de Clermont-Tonnerre from a shortlist of five finalists.
- Feurat Alani for Le ciel est immense (JC Lattès)
- Anne Berest for Finistère (Albin Michel)
- Justine Lévy for Une drôle de peine (Stock)
- Louis-Henri de La Rochefoucauld for L'amour moderne (Robert Laffont)
Je voulais vivre provides a fascinating reinterpretation of Dumas's characters, offering fresh insight into Milady de Winter’s story.
Author’s summary: The 2025 Prix Renaudot spotlights Adélaïde de Clermont-Tonnerre’s novel, reimagining a classic literary villain through a daring and original narrative.