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Mélissa Da Costa, born 7 August 1990, is a French romance author of best seller books.

Early life
Mélissa Da Costa grew up in the countryside of Ain, near Mâcon, Burgundy. Her father works in construction and her mother a nursery assistant. She also has two sisters, Jeanne, a midwife and Clara, a care worker in a retirement home.

She began writing at 7 years old, starting with poems, nursery rhymes and then novels. But she didn't believe she could become a writer, and so chose to pursue a degree in economics.

From 2008 until 2011, she studied economics and management at the IAE Lyon School of Management. Then she was a PR manager in the energy and climate deparment of a town hall in Isère.

She also trained in aromatherapy, naturopathy, and sophrology.

Career
After having written four novels, Da Costa decided to self-publish two on Amazon which were unsuccessful.

Then, in 2018, she put one of her books on the digital self-publishing platform monbestseller.com, where she was picked up and published by a small publishing house, Carnets nord. Renamed Tout le bleu du ciel (All the Blue of the Sky), the novel which the story of a young man with early-onset Alzheimer's disease and his travels with a stranger. This garnered a lot of success in paperback.

In May 2020, capable of supporting herself, she quit her job as PR manager in a town hall.

After her first success followed other books published by Albin Michel : Les Lendemains (2020), Je revenais des autres (2021), Les Douleurs fantômes (2022), La doublure (2022) et Les femmes du bout du monde (2023). In 2023, she also La faiseuse d'étoiles, of which the proceeds went to Unicef.

Critiques and recognition
Her novels are considered best-sellers: since 2021, they have featured in the top 10 most sold books in France. In January 2023, Mélissa Da Costa appeared in the list published by French newspaper Le Figaro of the 10 authors with the most book sales in 2022. She achieved third place, behind Guillaume Musso and Joël Dicker with 844,547 books sold in 2022.

Although described a a feel good author, Mélissa Da Costa disputes this description.

Private life
Da Costa is married to a computer graphics designer and is mother to a child born in 2020 named Martin. She lives in the Paris region, bordering the forest in the Chevreuse valley.

Literary works

 * Tout le bleu du ciel Carnet Nord, 2019republication, le livre de poche


 * Les lendemains, Albin Michel, 2020republication, le livre de poche, 2021


 * je revenais des autres, Ablin Michel, 2021republication, le livre de poche, 2023


 * la doublure, Albin Michel, 2022republication, le livre de poche, 2023


 * Les femmes du bout du monde, Albin Michel, 2023La Faiseuse d'étoiles, le livre de poche, 2023

- Demain le mauve, Charleston Edition, 2022 p.224

published in the anthology 'Le bruit des secrets'

Awards
Alain-Fournier Prize 2020 for Tout le bleu du ciel The Cezam Prix Litteraire 2020 for Tout le bleu du ciel

Readers paperback prize for Tout le bleu du ciel

Babelio prize in the French literature category 2022 for Les douleurs fantômes