Mélissa Da Costa

Mélissa Da Costa
Born	(1990-08-07) 7 August 1990 (age 34)
Occupation	Novelist
Language	French
Genre	Feel-Good
Notable works	Tout le bleu du ciel
Notable awards	Prix Alain-Fournier (2020), Prix du roman Cezam (2020), Prix Babelio (2022)

Mélissa Da Costa (born 7 August 1990) is a French novelist and author of bestsellers.

Biography

Mélissa Da Costa grew up in the countryside in the department of Ain, near Mâcon.[1][2] Her father worked in construction, and her mother was a childcare assistant.[1] She has two sisters: Jeanne, who became a midwife, and Clara, who works as an activities coordinator in a nursing home.[3]

She started writing poetry, stories, and novels when she was seven years old.[4] Feeling that she wasn't cut out to be a writer, she pursued a degree in economics.[1] From 2008 to 2011, she studied economics and management at IAE Lyon. Later, she worked as a communications officer for a city council in Isère, focusing on energy and climate issues.[4][5] She also took courses in aromatherapy, naturopathy, and sophrology.[5]

Mélissa Da Costa is married to a graphic designer and has two children.[1][6] She lives in the Paris region.

Writing career

After writing four novels, Mélissa Da Costa decided to self-publish two of them on the platform Amazon, but they didn't find much success.[4] In 2018, she uploaded one of her novels to the self-publishing platform monbestseller.com, where she was discovered and published by a small publishing house, Carnets Nord. The novel, later titled Tout le bleu du ciel, which deals with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease and tells the story of a young man with a terminal diagnosis who embarks on a journey with a stranger, achieved significant success in paperback.[2][7]

In May 2020, having reached a point where she could support herself through her writing, she left her job as a communications officer.[1] Her success continued with subsequent titles published by Albin Michel: Les Lendemains (2020), Je revenais des autres (2021), Les Douleurs fantômes (2022), La Doublure (2022), and Les Femmes du bout du monde (2023).[8] In 2023, she also wrote La Faiseuse d'étoiles, with proceeds going to UNICEF.[9]

Critical reception

Her novels have been considered bestsellers: by 2021, they ranked among the top 10 best-selling books in France.[8][10] In January 2023, Mélissa Da Costa was listed among the ten best-selling French authors of 2022 by Le Figaro. She ranked third, behind Guillaume Musso and Joël Dicker, with 844,547 copies sold that year.[11] In 2024, according to a report by Le Figaro, Mélissa Da Costa became the most-read author in France, surpassing Guillaume Musso, who had held that position for twelve years.[12]

Although often classified as a feel-good author, Mélissa Da Costa rejects this label.[10]

Works

Novels

• Tout le bleu du ciel (Carnets nord, 2019; reissued by Le Livre de Poche, 2020)
• Les Lendemains (Albin Michel, 2020; reissued by Le Livre de Poche, 2021)
• Je revenais des autres (Albin Michel, 2021; reissued by Le Livre de Poche, 2022)
• Les Douleurs fantômes (Albin Michel, 2022; reissued by Le Livre de Poche, 2023)
• La Doublure (Albin Michel, 2022; reissued by Le Livre de Poche, 2023)
• Les Femmes du bout du monde (Albin Michel, 2023)[13]
• La Faiseuse d'étoiles (Le Livre de Poche, 2023)
• Tenir Debout (Albin Michel, 2024)

Short stories

• "Demain le mauve" (Published in the anthology Le bruit des secrets, Editions Charleston, 2022)

Awards

• Prix Alain-Fournier 2020 for Tout le bleu du ciel
• Prix du roman Cezam 2020 for Tout le bleu du ciel
• Readers’ Choice Award from Le Livre de Poche for Tout le bleu du ciel[5]
• Babelio Award in the French Literature category in 2022 for Les Douleurs fantômes[14]

References

1. "Mélissa Da Costa : "Devenir écrivain, j'y avais renoncé"". Paris Match. 2022-03-15.
2. BERNO, Anaïs (2022-07-17). "PORTRAIT. Mélissa Da Costa, romancière au succès foudroyant". Ouest-France. Retrieved 2023-11-24.
3. Pierron, Véronique (2023-03-03). "Mélissa Da Costa, la femme la plus lue de France : itinéraire d'une discrète". Le Parisien. Retrieved 2023-11-24.
4. "Mélissa Da Costa, l'inconnue la plus lue de France". Le JDD. 2023-02-28. Retrieved 2023-11-24.
5. "Le goût des autres, avec Mélissa Da Costa". RCF. Retrieved 2023-11-24.
6. "Mélissa Da Costa - La biographie de Mélissa Da Costa avec Gala.fr". Gala. Retrieved 2023-11-24.
7. ""Une femme en quête de rédemption": rencontre avec Mélissa Da Costa autour de son dernier roman "Les Femmes au bout du monde"". Nice-Matin. 2023-05-05. Retrieved 2023-11-24.
8. "Mélissa Da Costa, de l'anonymat aux best-sellers: "Ça s'est emballé très vite"". BFMTV. 2022-06-09.
9. "Mélissa Da Costa : " Je n'aime pas ce qui est trop policé "". Elle. 2023-07-07. Retrieved 2023-11-24.
10. "Mélissa Da Costa, le succès d'une auteure discrète". Le Figaro. 2022-03-19.
11. "Les dix auteurs francophones qui ont vendu le plus de romans en 2022". Le Figaro. 2023-01-17.
12. "Melissa Da Costa, l'auteure la plus lue de France : "Je n'ai plus de problèmes financiers, et c'est un luxe, en effet"". Madame Figaro. 2024-08-10. Retrieved 2024-08-14.
13. "« Les Femmes du bout du monde », de Mélissa Da Costa : des mèches de cheveux et une faute morale". Le Nouvel Obs (in French). 2023-07-26. Retrieved 2024-09-06.
14. "Prix : Babelio - Littérature Française". Babelio. Retrieved 2022-12-30.