Chelsea Library Book Group

Love books and lively discussions?

Chelsea Library's Reading Group meets once a month to explore a range of captivating reads chosen from prize-winners and short- and long- listed books. It's a welcoming space to share ideas, discover new authors, and connect with fellow book lovers in the community.

Whether you’re a casual reader or a literary enthusiast, there’s always a place for you here!

In August we are reading A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre, shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2025.

About the Book

A Leopard-Skin Hat is a deeply moving and beautifully crafted novel by acclaimed French author Anne Serre. Through a series of brief, luminous scenes, Serre tells the story of an intense lifelong friendship between the narrator and his childhood friend Fanny, a brilliant, strong-willed young woman living with severe psychological illness.

As the narrator remains devoted to Fanny through years of hope, heartbreak and uncertainty, the novel explores the complexities of love, friendship and loss with remarkable tenderness and honesty. At once intimate and profound, A Leopard-Skin Hat captures the emotional turmoil of caring for someone who is struggling, while also celebrating the richness and individuality of a life lived against the odds.

Written following the death of Serre's younger sister, the novel is both an elegy and a tribute, a poignant meditation on memory, grief and enduring affection, told with the simplicity, elegance and emotional precision for which Anne Serre is renowned.