Gallimard recalls Matzneff book following under-age revelations

French publisher Gallimard has announced that it will stop marketing the personal diaries of author Gabriel Matzneff, and recall the latest volume L’Amante de l’Arsenal, published in November.

This follows publication of Vanessa Springora’s book Consent (published by Grasset) on 2nd January, which describes her sexual relationship with Matzneff when she was 14 and he was 50, and has caused a huge uproar in France. Springora is an editorial director for the publisher Julliard, which is part of the Editis group. Copies of Consent are flying off the shelves all over France, with seven print runs totalling 75,000 so far.

Matzneff’s latest book is the last in his series of about 15 personal diaries, which include mention of his relationship with Springora. The first, entitled Under 16 Years, was published by Julliard in 1974. Gallimard has published two other volumes of the diaries in the last five years, and 12 of Matzneff’s other works.

This is the first time Gallimard has taken such a step. "The suffering expressed by Madame Vanessa Springora…justifies this exceptional measure," it said in a press statement, sent to Agence France Presse and confirmed by The Bookseller.

Until now, Matzneff has been a respected author, raising questions of France‚Äôs tolerance of paedophilia and literary licence over many years. He has received ‚Ǩ160,000 in subsidies from the governmental National Book Centre (Centre National du Livre, CNL) since 2002, according to the Sunday newspaper Journal du Dimanche. Matzneff has also been awarded two state honours, and won the prestigious Renaudot prize for essays in 2013. Author Frédéric Beigbeder, a member of the Renaudot jury, told the newspaper Le Parisien that the essay award was "clumsy."

The Paris prosecutor has opened an inquiry into the rape of a minor of under 15.

Culture minister Franck Riester is reported to have said the CNL subsidies “were not justified”, and that Matzneff‚Äôs state honours should be reviewed.