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Oscar and the Lady in Pink (French: Oscar et la dame rose) is a novel of Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt, published in 2002. It is the third chapter of the series « Cycle de l'invisible », a group of 6 novels based on different religions.

Synopsis
'My name is Oscar and I'm ten years old ...They call me Egghead and I look about seven. I live in hospital because of my cancer and I've never written to you because I don't even know if you exist,' writes Oscar in a letter to God. Oscar is ill and no one, especially not his parents, will tell him what he already knows: that he is dying. Granny Rose, the oldest of the 'ladies in pink' who visit Oscar and his fellow patients, makes friends with him. She suggests that he play a game: to pretend that each of the following twelve days is a decade of his imagined future. One day equals ten years, and every night Oscar writes a letter to God telling him about his life. The ten letters that follow are sensitive, funny, heartbreaking and, ultimately, uplifting. Oscar and the Lady in Pink is a small fable with a big heart; it will change the way you feel about death, and life.

Summary
The book tells the story of a ten year old boy suffering of Leukemia named Oscar. He lives alone at the hospital as his parents work most of the time but is visited often by a woman he calls "Mamie Rose" which translates to "Grandma Pink" He calls her so because of the pink uniform worn by nurses on the children's ward. She helps him cope with his sickness in different ways. She invents stories of herself being a wrestler and encourages him to write his feelings down in letters to God.

The novel revolves around 12 days of Oscar's life. He knows he is dying and Mamie Rose helps him find the best ways to enjoy the last days of his life. Unlike his parents, Mamie Rose is comfortable to any conversation including death. She guides him through a very short life where he falls in love, reconciles with his parents, accepts death and grows his faith in God.

The Characters
Oscar, a 10 year old boy with Leukemia.

Mamie Rose (The lady in Pink) who comes and visits Oscar.

Oscar's parents who are always very absent.

« Peggy Blue », a little girl Oscar falls in love with who has Eisenmenger's syndrome.

« Popcorn », his obese friend

« Einstein », his friend with hydrocephalus

« Bacon », his friend with serious burns

Sandrine, called "the Chinese"

Brigitte, a young girl with down syndrome

Dr Düsseldorf, his doctor

The Themes/Concepts
This novel adresses concepts like: sickness, suffering, afterlife, faith, the mysteries of life through the eyes of child to try and give the reader that humility that young children have.

One recurring theme Schmitt conveys is to not let the fear of death stop us from living and to live each day like it was your first. This is a lesson Oscar learns through the guidance of God and he goes around teaching it to the adults around him.

A theme that Schmitt talks about is the idea of where is God in these situations where young children are dying of such sicknesses. Schmitt, through Oscar, shows the amazing spiritual adventure Oscar goes through and how it builds the people around him.

Film
In 2009, the author finished a film (Oscar and the Lady in Pink) based on the novel with Michèle Laroque in the role of Mamie Rose and Amir Ben Abdelmoumen as Oscar.

Reviews
IMDb: 7.2/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 36%

Awards

 * 2004 France, The french magazine "Lire" had a survey with the French people on what books had " had changed their life " : Oscar and the lady in pink -has an exceptional success for a living author- it finds itself next to the Bible, The Three Musketeers or The Little Prince.
 * 2004 France, Prix Chronos
 * 2004 France, Prix Jean Bernard of the Medical Academy
 * 2005 Suisse, Prix Chronos
 * 2006 Belgique, Grand Prix Etranger awarded by the Scriptores Christiani along with the other novels of the "Cycle de l'invisible"
 * 2012, Espagne, Prix Ola de Oro for the movie