Three people, a sailboat, ten days to turn everything upside down.

At seventy-seven, Françoise has only one certainty left: her freedom lies in Maurice, her twelve-meter sailboat. She wants to cross the Atlantic one last time, from Madeira to Martinique. On board, she takes Martin, her son, a disillusioned webtoon artist, and Cécile, a fragile woman in her thirties, scarred by toxic relationships.

What was supposed to be a cruise turns into a maritime confinement of rare intensity, where the ocean reveals the cracks, the silences, and impossible loyalties.

Scélérate explores filial love, the right to choose one’s own ending, the passing down of traditions, and that measure of freedom that no one can take away. A debut novel as taut as a lifeline: at sea, to love is sometimes to learn to let go.

David Vanek was born in Britany. He is the heir to a dual lineage of sailors who have left their mark on French sailing. He transforms this maritime heritage into literature in Scélérate. An entrepreneur and father of three daughters, he divides his time between London and Paris.