Books like Antichrista

When lonely sixteen-year-old university student Blanche meets the dazzling Christa, she is swept off her feet. Christa, who talks freely of her impoverished background in the Eastern Belgian town of Malmedy, claims to work in a bar with her boyfriend, a David Bowie lookalike called Detlev.When Blanche's mother, who finds her own daughter rather colourless, bookish and dull, is also dazzled by Christa though, she soon invites her to stay at the family house. Suddenly Christa can do no wrong and, as Blanche's parents scour their address books for long-lost friends to invite to dinner to meet the newcomer, their friendship sours and Blanche's already negligible self-confidence goes into a steep decline.With all the characteristics of Amélie Nothomb's unique fictional landscapes, Antichrista is a funny, dark and revealing journey through female friendship and rivalry.