Leila Slimani is a prominent French author and journalist, best known for her best-selling novel, "The Perfect Nanny." She was born in Rabat, Morocco, and moved to France at the age of seventeen to study media and political science. After graduating from ESPC Europe, Slimani tried her hand at acting, but when that career path did not take off, she turned to journalism and began working for Jeune Afrique magazine.
Slimani's literary career took off in 2014 with the publication of her first novel, "In the Garden of the Ogre," which won her the La Mamounia literary award. However, it was her second novel, "Chanson Douce," published in 2016, that catapulted her to fame. The psychological thriller became a bestseller within three months, with sales of over 76,000 copies, and made Slimani the most read author in France. That same year, she received the prestigious Prix Goncourt for "The Perfect Nanny," the English translation of "Chanson Douce."
In addition to her work as a novelist, Slimani is a journalist and frequent commentator on women's and human rights. She is also the personal representative for the promotion of the French language and culture for French president Emmanuel Macron. Slimani was born in Morocco in 1981 and currently lives in Paris with her French husband and their two young children. She is the first Moroccan woman to win France's most prestigious literary prize, the Prix Goncourt.