Françoise Sagan was born in 1935, the daughter of a prosperous Paris industrialist. She took her nom de plume from the Princesse de Sagan of Marcel Proust and was eighteen years old when she wrote her bestseller Bonjour Tristesse. She had failed to pass her examinations at the Sorbonne and decided to write a novel. It recieved international acclaim and by 1959 had sold 850,000 in France alone. Her other books include A Certain Smile, Those Without Shadows, Aimez-vouz Brahms ..., La Chamade, The Heart-Keeper, Sunlight on Cold Water, Scars on the Soul, The Unmade Bed, The Painted Lady, The Still Storm, Painting in Blood, Silken Eyes and Incidental Music. She has also written a number of plays, including Un piano dans l'herb and Zaphorie. Her autobiography, Avec mon meilluer souvenir, appeared in 1984 and her collected works were published in 1993.