The 2025 Prix Renaudot Crowns a Forgotten Woman of Literature
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 ceremony took place at the historic Drouant restaurant in Paris’s 2nd arrondissement, near the Opéra Garnier.
This renowned literary award honors a bold reinterpretation of one of French literature’s most captivating and maligned heroines — Milady de Winter, the formidable rival of Alexandre Dumas’s Three Musketeers.
“Je voulais vivre offers a powerful new voice to Milady de Winter, a woman both feared and misunderstood in Dumas’s world.”
Since 1926, the Renaudot jury has gathered at the Drouant, a legendary establishment that has also hosted the Goncourt prize deliberations since 1914. This century-old tradition makes Le Drouant a cornerstone of Paris’s literary culture.
The Jury and Finalists
- Chair: Patrick Besson
- Members: Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, Franz-Olivier Giesbert, Dominique Bona, and others
The jury selected Adélaïde de Clermont-Tonnerre from among five finalists:
- Feurat Alani – Le ciel est immense (JC Lattès)
- Anne Berest – Finistère (Albin Michel)
- Justine Lévy – Une drôle de peine (Stock)
- Louis-Henri de La Rochefoucauld – L’amour moderne (Robert Laffont)
Through her novel, de Clermont-Tonnerre revives a shadowed figure of literature and explores what it means to seek freedom and identity in a world shaped by betrayal and myth.
Author’s Summary
Adélaïde de Clermont-Tonnerre’s win at the 2025 Prix Renaudot celebrates a daring new portrayal of Milady de Winter and reinforces Paris’s enduring literary heritage.