Mona's Eyes

by Thomas Schlesser, Hildegarde Serle (Translator)

Overview

THE SENSATIONAL #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER THAT HAS TAKEN THE WORLD BY STORM

"Vibrant debut ... Schlesser seamlessly interweaves the art lessons with Mona's story ... Readers of Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World will love this." —Publishers Weekly

Ten-year-old Mona and her beloved grandfather have only fifty-two Wednesdays to visit fifty-two works of art and commit to memory "all that is beautiful in the world" before Mona loses her sight forever.

While the doctors can find no explanation for Mona's brief episode of blindness, they agree that the threat of permanent vision loss cannot be ruled out. The girl's grandfather, Henry, may not be able to stop his granddaughter from losing her sight, but he can fill the encroaching darkness with beauty.

Every Wednesday for a year, the pair abscond together and visit a single masterpiece in one of Paris's renowned museums. From Botticelli to Basquiat, Mona learns how each artist's work shaped the world around them. In turn, the young girl's world is changed forever by the power of their art. Under the kind and careful tutelage of her grandfather, Mona learns the true meaning of generosity, melancholy, love, loss, and revolution. Her perspective will never be the same — nor will the reader's.

Mona's Eyes is a heartfelt, enlightening journey across five centuries of Western art history. With the emotional impact of The Elegance of the Hedgehog and the readability of The Little Paris Bookshop, Thomas Schlesser's sensational debut novel is at once a moving book about the beauty of life and a deeply touching story about the special bond between a girl and her grandfather.

Discover all 52 masterpieces inside the fold-out dustjacket.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798889661115
Publisher:	Europa Editions, Incorporated
Publication date:	08/26/2025
Pages:	432
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Thomas Schlesser is the director of the Hartung-Bergman Foundation in Antibes, France. He teaches Art History at the École Polytechnique in Paris. He is the grandson of André Schlesser, known as Dadé, a singer and cabaret performer who founded the Cabaret L’Écluse. Mona’s Eyes is Schlesser’s American debut. It has been translated into thirty-eight languages, including Braille. Schlesser was named 2025’s Author of the Year by Livres Hebdo.

For Europa Editions, Hildegarde Serle has translated the best-selling Mirror Visitor series by Christelle Dabos and the novels by Valérie Perrin, including the international best-seller, Fresh Water for Flowers. She lives in London. 

Editorial Reviews

An instant #1 bestseller in France 

Winner of the RTL-Lire Literary Magazine Grand Prix 2024 

Debuted at #2 in Italy

“Art historian Schlesser’s vibrant English-language debut frames a survey of classical Western art with the story of a Parisian man supporting his 10-year-old granddaughter after her sudden bout of temporary blindness... Schlesser seamlessly interweaves the art lessons with Mona’s story, which concludes with an explanation for the cause of her blindness. Readers of Jostein Gaarder’s Sophie’s World will love this.”—Publishers Weekly

“It’s an earthquake. A seismic shift in the world of publishing. A Sophie’s World set in the art world. Thomas Schlesser. Remember the name.”—Alice Develey, Le Figaro

“An ode to beauty and wisdom.”—Le Parisien 

“Mona’s Eyes is not only an introductory novel about art; it is also a universal tale.”—La Croix 

“The phenomenal novel that makes you want to run to the museum... Better than Emily in Paris.”—Télerama 

“Fabulous!”—France Inter 

“Thomas Schlesser is the world champion of dissemination. A brilliant book.”—Télématin 

“A tender and absolutely captivating book.”—La grande librairie 

“A wonderful and poignant story.”—Courrier Picard 

“Telling the story of a little girl who is introduced to beauty and life, Mona’s Eyes as sparked an exceptional level of enthusiasm.”—RTL 

“This incredibly buzzy debut is something like if an acclaimed art historian had written All the Light We Cannot See… It feels passionate and engaging and really captures the freshness and wonder of understanding art, the world, growing up, through the eyes of a child.”—Miriam Gordis, Albertine Bookstore, New York, NY 

From the Publisher