{{Short description|2023 novel by Éric Chacour}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2026}} {{Infobox book | image = What I Know About You (Book Cover).jpeg | author = Éric Chacour | country = Canada | genre = | publisher = Éditions Alto | pub_date = August 24, 2023 | translator = Pablo Strauss | english_release_date = November 7, 2024 | awards = Prix des Libraires 2024<br />Prix Femina des lycéens 2023 | isbn = 978-2384820344 }}
'''''What I Know About You''''' ({{langx|fr|'''Ce que je sais de toi'''|links=no}}) is a novel by Éric Chacour, published on August 24, 2023, by Éditions Alto in Quebec and by Éditions Philippe Rey in France. The English translation by Pablo Strauss was published by Coach House Books and Pushkin Press in 2024.
The novel focuses on relations in a Levantine-Egyptian family, and a romantic relationship that strains existing norms, expectations and responsibilities. It won the prix des Libraires in 2024,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Jetté |first=Élise |date=2024-05-15 |title=Éric Chacour remporte le 70e Prix des libraires de France |url=https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2073029/eric-chacour-70e-prix-des-libraires-france |access-date=2025-07-30 |website=Radio-Canada}}</ref> making Chacour the second Québécois to win the prize after Anne Hébert in 1971.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Maalouf |first=Laila |date=2024-05-15 |title=Ce que je sais de toi: Éric Chacour remporte le Prix des libraires en France |url=https://www.lapresse.ca/arts/litterature/2024-05-15/ce-que-je-sais-de-toi/eric-chacour-remporte-le-prix-des-libraires-en-france.php |access-date=2026-01-20 |work=La Presse |language=fr-CA}}</ref>
== Plot == ''What I Know About You'' follows Tarek, a young doctor taking over his father's medical practice in 1980s Cairo. His choice to open a dispensary in the poorer neighborhood of Mokattam leads him to meet Ali. Their relationship will alter the course of his otherwise pre-ordained life.<ref name=":1"/>
== Narrative focus and style == The book touches on many themes around human and familial relations, including love, homosexuality, gender, prostitution, migration, and fate.
The novel is broken up into three steadily shorter sections, that gradually reveal the position of the omniscient narrator.<ref name=":1"/> The first section "You" is written in the second person, and focuses on the story of Tarek. The second section "Me," mostly written in the first person, allows the narrator to reveal themselves. Finally, the shortest (third) section "We," describes the relationship between the two characters in a dozen pages.
== Translations == In 2024, the novel was translated into English by Pablo Strauss, and published by Coach House Books in Canada and Pushkin Press in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What I Know About You • Montreal Review of Books |url=https://mtlreviewofbooks.ca/reviews/what-i-know-about-you-eric-chacour/ |access-date=2026-01-20 |website=Montreal Review of Books |language=en-CA}}</ref> The translated version was a finalist for the Giller Prize,<ref>Cassandra Drudi, [https://quillandquire.com/omni/giller-prize-announces-five-title-shortlist-for-2024-prize/ "Giller Prize announces five-title shortlist for 2024 prize"]. ''Quill & Quire'', October 9, 2024.</ref> the Dayne Ogilvie Prize for debut books by LGBTQ writers,<ref>[https://www.cbc.ca/books/vincent-anioke-anthony-oliveira-%C3%A9ric-chacour-shortlisted-for-10k-2slgbtq-emerging-writers-prize-1.7321745 "Vincent Anioke, Anthony Oliveira, Éric Chacour shortlisted for $10K 2SLGBTQ+ emerging writers prize"]. CBC Books, September 13, 2024.</ref> and for the Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize in 2024.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Maalouf |first=Laila |date=2024-05-15 |title=Ce que je sais de toi: Éric Chacour remporte le Prix des libraires en France |url=https://www.lapresse.ca/arts/litterature/2024-05-15/ce-que-je-sais-de-toi/eric-chacour-remporte-le-prix-des-libraires-en-france.php |journal=La Presse |language=fr-CA |access-date=2024-05-16}}</ref>
As of July 2025, the novel had been translated into more than 10 languages.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |title=Livres des deux rives" translation workshop: author Eric Chacour reflects on his experience as a tutor {{!}} Institut français |url=https://www.institutfrancais.com/en/magazine/book/livres-deux-rives-translation-workshop-author-eric-chacour-reflects-his-experience |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250914175853/https://www.institutfrancais.com/en/magazine/book/livres-deux-rives-translation-workshop-author-eric-chacour-reflects-his-experience |archive-date=2025-09-14 |access-date=2026-01-20 |work=Institut français |language=en}}</ref>
== Reception == As of 2025, the novel had sold more than 300,000 copies, and won a number of awards.<ref name=":2" />
In 2026, the novel was shortlisted for the international Dublin Literary Award,<ref>Martin Doyle, [https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/2026/04/07/dublin-literary-award-2026-shortlist-literature-at-its-most-international-most-ambitious-and-most-humane/ "Dublin Literary Award 2026 shortlist: ‘Literature at its most international, most ambitious, and most humane’"]. ''The Irish Times'', April 7, 2026.</ref> and was selected for One eRead Canada, a digital book club which saw both its English and French versions distributed in ebook and audiobook versions by participating libraries for the month of April, without waitlists or holds.<ref>Elena Hudgins Lyle, [https://www.cbc.ca/books/eric-chacour-s-novel-what-i-know-about-you-selected-for-digital-book-club-one-eread-canada-9.7148783 "Éric Chacour's novel What I Know About You selected for digital book club One eRead Canada"]. CBC Books, March 31, 2026.</ref>
=== Awards === The novel has won over 12 prizes,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Éric Chacour's 'stunning' debut novel goes to Gallic Books |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/eric-chacours-stunning-debut-novel-goes-to-gallic-books |access-date=2026-01-20 |website=The Bookseller |language=En}}</ref> including:
* The CALQ prize Œuvre de la relève à Montréal prize;<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-04-16 |title=Éric Chacour remporte le Prix du CALQ – Œuvre de la relève à Montréal |url=https://www.calq.gouv.qc.ca/actualites-et-publications/actualites/eric-chacour-prix-oeuvre-releve-montreal |access-date=2026-01-20 |website=Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec |language=fr}}</ref> * The prix des cinq continents de la francophonie in 2024;<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lapointe |first=Josée |date=2024-03-26 |title=Ce que je sais de toi: Éric Chacour remporte le Prix des cinq continents |url=https://www.lapresse.ca/arts/litterature/2024-03-26/ce-que-je-sais-de-toi/eric-chacour-remporte-le-prix-des-cinq-continents.php |access-date=2026-01-20 |work=La Presse |language=fr-CA}}</ref> * The prix Femina des lycéens in 2023;<ref>{{Cite web |last=ICI.Radio-Canada.ca |first=Zone Arts- |date=2023-11-28 |title=Éric Chacour, lauréat du prix Femina des lycéens |url=https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2030654/eric-chacour-prix-femina-lyceens |access-date=2026-01-20 |website=Radio-Canada |language=fr-ca}}</ref> * The discovery prize of the fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco;<ref name=":1"/> * The prize of the Festival du premier roman ("Festival of the first novel") of Chambéry in 2024;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chambéry : les lauréats et invités du Festival du premier roman 2024 |url=https://actualitte.com/article/116300/salons-festivals/chambery-les-laureats-et-invites-du-festival-du-premier-roman-2024 |access-date=2026-01-20 |website=ActuaLitté.com |language=fr-FR}}</ref> * The "Première Plume" prize in 2023;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Éric Chacour, lauréat du Prix Première Plume 2023 |url=https://actualitte.com/article/113160/prix-litteraires/eric-chacour-laureat-du-prix-premiere-plume-2023 |access-date=2026-01-20 |website=ActuaLitté.com |language=fr-FR}}</ref> * The prix des Libraires 2024;<ref name=":0"/> * The "Libraires en Seine Corinne-Kim" award in 2024;<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cattan |first=Léon |date=June 6, 2024 |title=Éric Chacour, lauréat du prix Libraires en Seine 2024 |url=https://www.livreshebdo.fr/article/eric-chacour-laureat-du-prix-libraires-en-seine-2024 |access-date=2026-01-20 |website=Livres Hebdo |language=fr}}</ref> * Selection in the second tier for the prix Femina in 2024;<ref>{{Cite news |last=Maalouf |first=Laila |date=2023-10-03 |title=Éric Chacour toujours en lice pour le prix Femina |url=https://www.lapresse.ca/arts/litterature/2023-10-03/eric-chacour-toujours-en-lice-pour-le-prix-femina.php |access-date=2026-01-20 |work=La Presse |language=fr-CA}}</ref> * Selection in the second tier for the prix Renaudot.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Maalouf |first=Laila |date=2023-10-26 |title=Prix Renaudot: Éric Chacour n'a pas été retenu parmi les finalistes |url=https://www.lapresse.ca/arts/litterature/2023-10-26/prix-renaudot/eric-chacour-n-a-pas-ete-retenu-parmi-les-finalistes.php |access-date=2026-01-20 |work=La Presse |language=fr-CA}}</ref>
== References == <references /> {{Portal|Littérature|Québec|Égypte|LGBT}} Category:2023 debut novels Category:2023 Canadian novels Category:2020s LGBTQ novels Category:2023 LGBTQ-related literary works Category:Canadian LGBTQ novels Category:Canadian French-language novels Category:Novels set in Montreal Category:Novels set in Cairo Category:Novels set in the 1980s Category:Novels about families Category:Novels about medical doctors Category:Prix des libraires Category:2020s French-language novels