“All the Blue Sky” by Melissa Da Costa is one of the most acclaimed novels in contemporary French literature. In 2025, the novel about a journey that turns into a search for the meaning of life was adapted for Netflix, and this year the book was published by ARTBOOKS.
In 2019, the French book market experienced an unexpected turn. Melissa Da Costa's debut novel “All the Blue Sky” instantly became a bestseller: over one and a half million copies sold and the first place in the rankings, which for over ten years had been undisputedly dominated by Guillaume Musso. Thus, the 32-year-old communications specialist and mother of a young son suddenly became the most popular writer in France. In 2024, the story received another life – a film adaptation by Netflix. According to the numbers, the television version became a hit: the first part was watched by 3.9 million viewers, the second – by 3.33 million.
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Paradoxically, the author herself did not believe for a long time that writing could become her profession. The daughter of a teacher and a builder, Da Costa received an education in economics and management and worked in the field of communications, writing about energy and the climate. Although she had been making up stories since childhood, the dream of literature seemed unattainable to her – this world seemed too closed. Even after the triumph of the novel, Melissa Da Costa still called herself not a writer, but a communications specialist for some time.
The story that brought her fame begins quite unusually: 26-year-old Emil learns that he has an early form of Alzheimer's disease. Ahead is a maximum of two years, after which he will lose his memory, speech and ability to navigate the world. His family convinces him to agree to clinical trials, but Emil decides otherwise. He publishes an ad on the Internet: he is looking for someone who will agree to go on a journey with him for the rest of his life.
Joanna, a silent stranger in a black hat, with a backpack and no unnecessary questions, responds to this ad. A few days later, they set off in an old trailer. Thus begins a journey through the Pyrenees – through mountain roads, small villages, long conversations and silence. Two people forced by fate to flee their own lives gradually learn to trust each other. Traveling becomes a way for them to truly live the time they have left.
Emil is running away not only from his illness, but also from the role of a victim. He does not want to wait for the end in the hospital ward. His escape turns into a spiritual journey – an attempt to understand himself, accept fear and learn to enjoy simple things. Joanna, on the contrary, is closely connected to her land and has hardly traveled. She is a vegan, is passionate about herbalism and dreams of a life closer to nature. Her own traumas remain in the shadows, but it is she who becomes for Emil a guide to a world of slowing down and mindfulness.
Da Costa came up with this plot as a teenager, but returned to it only ten years later. She wrote the novel while traveling through New Zealand, where she and her husband lived in a van with a minimum of belongings – almost the same as her characters. Interestingly, at that time she knew the Pyrenees, through which the characters travel, only from photographs and books. She searched the Internet for “the most beautiful villages in France” and that's how she discovered this route for herself.
The plot of escaping from the difficulties of life by traveling is not new to French literature, they even invented a name for this subgenre – feel-good. But Melissa Da Costa is sharply different from other authors. Her strength is the ability to immerse the reader in the story, quickly attaching to the characters, their past and the connection between them.
Da Costa's writing is poetic, creating vivid images and a feeling as if you are next to the characters. The landscapes are described beautifully: trails, villages, the sun on the mountain slopes, the small village of Evs is especially enchanting. The text is easy to read, as the description of the hikes smoothly transitions into the characters' reflections. The book is tender and sad, like life itself: short beautiful moments are replaced by storms, after which waves of peace roll in again. Joanna explains to Emil: their journey is primarily internal, a way to look at themselves differently. The atmosphere, the small details of the road, the smells of herbs, simple dishes, quiet conversations are a space for healing, where people learn to accept life and their own fragility.
Emile and Joanna are a touching duo. At first, Emile is disappointed: Joanna's silence and her habit of looking at the sky confuse him. However, gradually the woman opens up, teaches him to practice mindfulness – meditation in the present moment. At first, the story goes through Emile's thoughts, and when he loses his memory, Joanna and her extraordinary and dramatic life story come to the fore. They are a real tandem: when one falls, the other is ready to lend a shoulder.
The novel's popularity was helped by the quarantine: when travel was unavailable, readers set off on a book journey with the characters. In addition, the novel tells about illness, loss, fear of the future, but without excessive pathos. Da Costa shows that even in the face of the inevitable, a person is able to find friendship, love and meaning in his own existence. It is this simple but honest intonation that made the debut of the novel a literary phenomenon in France.