{{Short description|2022 novel by Anthony Passeron}} {{italic title}} {{Infobox book | name = Sleeping Children | image = Sleeping-Children.jpg | caption = The first US edition | author = Anthony Passeron | translator = Frank Wynne | country = France | orig_lang_code = fr | genre = Historical fiction, Domestic fiction, Auto fiction, Drama | publisher = Globe | publisher2 = Picador (UK)<br />Farrar, Straus and Giroux (US) |english_pub_date = March 6, 2025 (UK)<ref>{{cite web |language=en|title=Telegraph Review|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/review-sleeping-children-anthony-passeron |date=February 26, 2025 |publisher=Telegraph}}</ref> | pub_date = August 25, 2022 (FR) | pages = 288 (FR paperback)<br/>256 (FR pocket)<br/>240 (UK paperback)<br/>208 (US hardback) | isbn = 978-1035026494 | dewey = 843/.92 | congress = PQ2716.A37726 E5413 2025 | oclc = 1431883375 | followed_by = Jacky }}
'''''Sleeping Children''''' ({{Langx|fr|Les Enfants endormis}}) is a 2022 novel by French writer Anthony Passeron, which won, the ''Prix Wepler'', the ''Prix Première RTBF'' and more than a dozen others. Autobiographical, it tells two parallel stories: the emergence and fight against HIV in French hospitals between 1981 and 2008, and the story of a family of provincial merchants faced with denial, silence, and the weight of social scrutiny. He began writing the book in 2017 while teaching at a high school and says he thought of his students: he researched and accurately described the progress of scientific research.<ref name="ouest">{{cite web|access-date=2024-10-09 |date=2023-12-08 |language=fr |title=Cholet. L'écrivain Anthony Passeron a reçu son prix à la médiathèque |url=https://www.ouest-france.fr/culture/livres/cholet-lecrivain-anthony-passeron-a-recu-son-prix-a-la-mediatheque-8e8ce88a-9528-11ee-a573-1d8641f728fa |website=Courrier de l'Ouest}}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator --></ref><ref>{{cite web|access-date=2024-10-09 |author=Alexandre Fillon |date=2024-04-11 |language=fr-FR |title=« Les enfants endormis » pour réveiller l'histoire du Sida à travers une histoire familiale |url=https://www.letelegramme.fr/culture-loisirs/livres/a-lire/les-enfants-endormis-pour-reveiller-lhistoire-du-sida-a-travers-une-histoire-familiale-6561792.php |website=Le Télégramme}}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>
==Synopsis== The book is divided into two parts: each even-numbered chapter focuses on the author's family background, told 40 years after the death of his uncle 'Désiré', while the odd-numbered chapters focus on the progress of AIDS research.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.babelio.com/livres/Passeron-Les-Enfants-endormis/1421651 | title=Les Enfants endormis - Anthony Passeron | access-date=2025-04-13 | archive-date=2025-04-13 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250413222330/https://www.babelio.com/livres/Passeron-Les-Enfants-endormis/1421651 | url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Main characters== *Désiré, the family's favourite son, sent to the city to take on studies. *Jacques, Désiré's brother (also known as Jacky, eponymous title of the author's second book and sequel to this story<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/231150106-jacky | title=Jacky: Roman }}</ref>), relied upon for the butchery's hard work, and for helping out his older brother once he gets in trouble in Amsterdam. *Maya, Désiré's girlfriend *Louise, the author's grandmother of Italian descent *Emile, the grandfather, a local butcher like his father *The first person narrator and his brother *Researchers, including: Willy Rozenbaum; Françoise Brun-Vézinet; Jacques Leibowitch; Luc Montagnier; Robert Gallo
===Family story=== The story opens with the author's family, particularly Désiré, a charismatic young man admired within his community. Over time, following a trip to Amsterdam and some unfortunate encounters, Désiré descends into heroin addiction, which shocks the family. The family experiences a gradual tragedy, punctuated by desperate efforts to save him. This struggle is directed not only against drugs, but also against the gaze of others and the weight of appearances in a small rural community. When Désiré contracts HIV through the use of contaminated needles, it is a new ordeal for the family. The disease invades their daily lives, shattering their certainties and forcing everyone to confront a tragic reality they can no longer hide. Suffering, shame, and denial are omnipresent. Through the author's eyes, we observe the fragility of family ties but also their strength in the face of adversity. The tragedy takes on a new dimension with the birth of Désiré's daughter, Émilie. Infected by her mother during pregnancy, the disease strikes this innocent child hard. After the death of both her parents, the young girl is surrounded only by her family and must cope with this scourge. Unlike Désiré, who is the center of the family's denial, Émilie becomes the symbol of the injustice of the disease. Her presence awakens a brutal realization among the family members: AIDS is no longer a distant evil; it is there, present in the body of an innocent child. Her illness acts as a catalyst, forcing the family to emerge from its silence and confront the magnitude of the tragedy a second time since Désiré's death.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://papivore.net/litterature-francophone/critique-les-enfants-endormis-anthony-passeron-globe/ | title=Critique les enfants endormis de Anthony Passeron par papivore.net | date=10 October 2022 }}</ref>
===Medical research=== Alongside this family tragedy, Anthony Passeron takes a broader perspective, tracing the history of scientific research on AIDS. These chapters recount the first appearances of the disease in the early 1980s, notably through the mysterious "pneumocystosis" detected in the United States. Doctors gradually identified the link with the homosexual community, but then realized that other groups, such as heroin addicts and transfusion recipients, were also affected. The author highlights the trial and error of medical teams, the rivalries between French and American researchers, as well as the progress toward the discovery of HIV in 1983, followed by the development of triple therapy in the 1990s. He pays tribute to the work of French researchers, sometimes marginalized compared to their more influential American counterparts. This part of the story highlights the urgency, complexity, and fierceness of the fight against AIDS, an invisible and formidable enemy. Each step forward seems tiny compared to the scale and urgency of the problem, but French researchers are not losing hope.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://fondationlaposte.org/florilettres/entretiens/entretien-avec-anthony-passeron-propos-recueillis-par-nathalie-jungerman | title=Entretien avec Anthony Passeron. Propos recueillis par Nathalie Jungerman | Fondation la Poste }}</ref>
Sleeping Children is thus a double novel: a family fresco on the drama of addiction and illness, and a dive into the collective history of medical research.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://diacritik.com/2022/08/30/de-sang-froid-anthony-passeron-les-enfants-endormis/ | title=De sang froid : Anthony Passeron, les Enfants endormis | date=30 August 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://diacritik.com/2024/03/15/les-mains-dans-les-poches-anthony-passeron-les-enfants-endormis/ | title=Les mains dans les poches : Anthony Passeron, les Enfants endormis | date=15 March 2024 }}</ref>
==Reception== A local newspaper reportedly sold 40,000 units,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nicematin.com/education/une-lecon-de-non-fiction-signee-anthony-passeron-915576 | title=Leçon de "non-fiction" par l'écrivain niçois Anthony Passeron, dans le lycée de Menton où il a enseigné | date=15 April 2024 }}</ref> helping the author to sell over 80,000 units before the US publication. Some translated versions sold out (Finnish Tartunta).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.prisma.fi/tuotteet/111129922/passeron-tartunta-111129922 | title=Passeron, Tartunta | Prisma verkkokauppa }}</ref>
===Literary prizes=== Laureate: * Prix Première Plume 2022<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2024-10-09 |author=Adriano Tiniscopa |date=31 August 2022 |language=fr |title=Anthony Passeron, lauréat du prix Première plume 2022 |url=https://www.livreshebdo.fr/article/anthony-passeron-laureat-du-prix-premiere-plume-2022 |website=Livres Hebdo}}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> * Prix Wepler Fondation La Poste 2022 * Prix Culture et Bibliothèque pour tous 2023 * Prix des lectrices et des lecteurs des bibliothèques de la Ville de Paris 2023<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2024-10-22 |language=fr |title=Anthony Passeron remporte le prix des lectrices et des lecteurs des bibliothèques de Paris |url=https://www.livreshebdo.fr/article/anthony-passeron-remporte-le-prix-des-lectrices-et-des-lecteurs-des-bibliotheques-de-paris#:~:text=%C2%A9%20Jessica%20Jager-,Anthony%20Passeron%20remporte%20le%20prix%20des%20lectrices%20et%20des%20lecteurs,Festival%20du%20livre%20de%20Paris. |website=Livres Hebdo}}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> * Prix des Lycéens de Sceaux 2023<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2024-12-12 |language=fr-FR |title=Coup de coeur des lycéens de Sceaux |url=https://bibliotheque.sceaux.fr/coup-de-coeur-des-lyceens-de-sceaux.aspx |website=bibliotheque.sceaux.fr}}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> * Prix du premier roman de la ville de Limoges 2023<ref name=":0">{{cite web|access-date=2024-12-12 |language=fr-FR |title=Les Enfants endormis – Éditions Globe |url=https://editions-globe.com/les-enfants-endormis/}}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> * Prix Première RTBF 2023 * Prix du roman Coiffard 2023<ref name=":0" /> * Prix Summer 2023<ref>{{cite web |access-date=2024-10-09 |author=Paul Bourdel |date=2023-03-03 |language=fr-FR |title=Fête du Livre de Bron - Prix Summer 2023: Anthony Passeron |url=https://www.fetedulivredebron.com/2023/03/03/prix-summer-2023-anthony-passeron/ |website=Fête du Livre de Bron |archive-date=2024-10-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241009132358/https://www.fetedulivredebron.com/2023/03/03/prix-summer-2023-anthony-passeron/ |url-status=dead }}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> * Prix Un livre ou verre 2023<ref name=":0" /> * Prix des Lecteurs 2024
Finalist: * Prix de Flore 2022<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2024-10-09 |date=2022-10-14 |language=fr |title=Prix de Flore 2022 : voici les cinq finalistes |url=https://www.nouvelobs.com/prix-litteraires/20221014.OBS64646/prix-de-flore-2022-voici-les-cinq-finalistes.html |website=Le Nouvel Obs}}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> * Prix Médicis essai 2022 <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nouvelobs.com/prix-litteraires/20221011.OBS64443/prix-medicis-2022-deuxieme-selection-les-huit-finalistes.html | title=Prix Médicis 2022, deuxième sélection : Les huit finalistes | date=11 October 2022 }}</ref> * Prix du Roman Fnac 2022<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2024-10-09 |author=Eric Dupuy |date=31 August 2022 |language=fr |title=Les cinq finalistes du prix du roman Fnac 2022 |url=https://www.livreshebdo.fr/article/les-cinq-finalistes-du-prix-du-roman-fnac-2022 |website=Livres Hebdo}}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> * Prix du Livre Inter 2023<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2024-10-09 |date=2024-10-03 |language=fr |title=Prix du livre Inter 2023 // Annonce des 10 livres en compétition et la composition du jury |url=https://www.radiofrance.com/presse/prix-du-livre-inter-2023-annonce-des-10-livres-en-competition-et-la-composition-du-jury |website=Radio France}}<!-- auto-translated from French by Module:CS1 translator --></ref> * Prix des Libraires 2023<ref name=":0" />
==Translations== The book has been translated into:
*English, by Frank Wynne as ''{{Lang|en|Sleeping Children}}'' (released in U.K. before U.S.)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374612269/sleepingchildren/ | title=Sleeping Children }}</ref> *Italian, by Chiara Manfrinato, as ''{{Lang|it|I ragazzi addormentati}}'' <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.guanda.it/libri/anthony-passeron-i-ragazzi-addormentati-9788823532946/ | title=I ragazzi addormentati }}</ref> *German, by Claudia Marquardt as ''{{Lang|de|Die Schlafenden}}''<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.piper.de/buecher/die-schlafenden-isbn-978-3-492-07269-4 | title=Die Schlafenden }}</ref> *Dutch, by Hester Tollenaar, as ''{{Lang|nl|De slapende kinderen}}'' Hester Tollenaar<ref>{{cite web | url=https://uitgeverijpodium.nl/producten/de-slapende-kinderen-9789463811941 | title=De slapende kinderen | date=22 November 2023 }}</ref> *Catalan, by Lluís-Anton Baulenas, as ''{{Lang|ca|Els fills adormits}}''<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.laltraeditorial.cat/llibre/els-fills-adormits/ | title=eLS fills adormits – l'Altra Editorial }}</ref> *Spanish, by Palmira Feixas, as ''{{Lang|es|Los hijos dormidos}}''<ref>{{cite web | url=https://librosdelasteroide.com/libro/los-hijos-dormidos | title=Los hijos dormidos - Libros del Asteroide }}</ref> *Polish, by ''{{Lang|pl|Uśpione}}''Jacek Giszczak<ref>{{cite web | url=https://czarne.com.pl/katalog/ksiazki/uspione | title=Uśpione }}</ref> *Danish, by Rasmus Stenfalk, ''{{Lang|da|Sovende børn}}''<ref>https://bibliotek.dk/en/materiale/sovende-boern_anthony-passeron/work-of%3A870970-basis%3A138357279?type=bog&tid=JR5Zq1744535530030795169741</ref> *Finnish, as ''{{Lang|sv-fi|Tartunta}}''<ref>{{cite web | url=https://politiken.dk/kultur/boger/boganmeldelser/skonlitteratur_boger/art9956273/%C2%BBMan-b%C3%B8r-ikke-se-det-samme-menneske-b%C3%A5de-f%C3%B8des-og-d%C3%B8%C2%AB | title="Man bør ikke se det samme menneske både fødes og dø" }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.suomalainen.com/products/tartunta-5 | title=Tartunta }}</ref> *Swedish, by Marianne Tufvesson, as ''{{Lang|sv|De sovande barnen}}''<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.albertbonniersforlag.se/bocker/293942/de-sovande-barnen/ | title=De sovande barnen }}</ref> *Norwegian by Bokmål and Nynorsk, as ''{{Lang|nor|Sovende barn}}''<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ark.no/produkt/boker/skjonnlitteratur/sovende-barn-9788234713385 | title=Sovende barn }}</ref> *Portuguese, by Camila Boldrini(''{{Lang|pt|Os meninos adormecidos}}'')<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.fosforoeditora.com.br/produto/os-meninos-adormecidos-70360 | title=Os meninos adormecidos, de Anthony Passeron }}</ref> *Brazilian Portuguese, by Diogo Paiva as ''{{Lang|pt-br|As Crianças Adormecidas}}''<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.livrosdobrasil.pt/produtos/ficha/as-criancas-adormecidas/29532457 | title=As Crianças Adormecidas, Anthony Passeron |website=Livros do Brasil }}</ref>
==Adaptations== *An audiobook read by Loïc Corbery is available <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.audiolib.fr/livre/les-enfants-endormis-9791035413538/ | title=Les Enfants endormis (Livre audio 2023), de Anthony Passeron, Loïc Corbery | Audiolib }}</ref> *In 2025, a TV series adaptation was shot.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/review-sleeping-children-anthony-passeron/ The Telegraph review of the novel] *[https://elpais.com/babelia/2023-11-22/los-hijos-dormidos-un-testimonio-literario-valiente-y-luminoso-sobre-la-tragedia-del-sida-y-la-heroina.html Review] on ''El País'' *[https://www.nouvelobs.com/bibliobs/20230319.OBS71046/ecrire-sur-le-sida-aujourd-hui-j-avais-un-devoir-de-memoire-vis-a-vis-de-ceux-qui-sont-morts.html Nouvel Obs synthesis placing author in a wave of similar initiatives] *[https://www.rcwlitagency.com/books/sleeping-children Gallery of book covers for several editions of the novel] *[https://www.nicematin.com/litterature/que-changent-les-prix-litteraire-a-la-vie-des-auteurs-reponses-avec-4-ecrivains-azureens-recompenses-883390 Local french newspaper] *[https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/rentree-litteraire-les-enfants-endormis-recit-familial-tout-en-pudeur-autour-des-annees-sida-7039200 French national radio review] *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W0jiRJ4Ngc French national radio interview in the daily news] *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGc9Fe3Agsc French national radio interview in a thematic special] *[https://www.france.tv/france-5/la-grande-librairie/la-grande-librairie-saison-15/4121251-anthony-passeron-les-tombeaux-de-papier.html French national TV interview in a litterary show] *[https://www.grasset.fr/livre/jacky-9782246843573/ Sequel of this novel on the editor's site]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sleeping Children}} Category:2022 French novels Category:French autobiographical novels Category:Novels about heroin addiction Category:Novels set in France Category:Novels set in the 1980s Category:French novels adapted into television shows Category:Novels about HIV/AIDS