The French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alexandre Taillard de Worms,
welcomes his new counselor – young Arthur Vlaminck – to the Quai
d’Orsay. The first contact is friendly, almost warm – but Arthur will
all too quickly get to know the pitiless world of politics, where
emergencies, exhilaration, stress, embarrassment and endless workdays
are all part of daily life! Put in charge of the Ministry’s
‘language’, Arthur finds he has the weighty responsibility of writing
the Minister’s speeches. Arthur is caught between this flamboyant
political figure, who, though energized by his role, is nonetheless
narcissistic and unpredictable; his chief of staff, who knows how to
channel the Minister’s energy; and the other counselors who orbit
around the Minister. But Arthur will eventually find his place. Antoine
Baudry, the co-author, was a counselor to Dominique de Villepin when
Villepin was head of French Foreign Affairs. Any resemblance to real
persons living or dead may or may not be purely coincidental…
