Raised in Le Havre, Maylis de Kerangal studied history and philosophy in Rouen and Paris.

She worked at Paris-based Éditions Gallimard in the children and youth department from 1991 to 1996, then travelled in the United States.

[1] It was awarded both the Prix Médicis in 2010 and the Premio Gregor von Rezzori in 2014,[2] and has been translated into several languages worldwide.

[3][4][5][6] Mend the Living (Réparer les vivants, 2014), translated by Jessica Moore and published in the UK, won the Prix Orange du Livre and the Grand prix RTL-Lire in France, and the 2017 Wellcome Book Prize (UK).

Eastbound (originally released in 2012 as Tangente vers l’est) was named a best book of 2023 by The New York Times.