De Cul-de-sac a Piege nuptial: Les avatars d'un texte et de ses paratextes

This article sets out to examine the surprising editorial pathway taken by the French publication of American author Douglas Kennedy's first novel, 'The Dead Heart'. First published in 1998 as part of prestigious Srie Noire under the title of 'Cul-de-sac', in a translation that was faithful to the spirit of the collection, it was then published by Belfond a decade later in a new translation with an entirely different style, renamed 'Pi ge nuptial'. We look into the paratextual material of these two publications and more closely at the one which scored the first real breakthrough for this author on French soil, and which continues to result in record sales, despite the fact that he is yet to become a household name in his motherland.