“Considered by many to be the best book on the interpretation of Truffaut's films, this French translation shows how Truffaut's creative impulse was anchored in his personal experience of a traumatic childhood that left him lonely and emotionally deprived.”

“Long a major work within French film and the cinema of François Truffaut, Anne Gillain’s volume provides an important perspective on Truffaut and his films that is still quite relevant for historians and theorists today. Most importantly, Alistair Fox’s meticulous and lively translation is nothing short of amazing. Everyone working seriously on Truffaut and his legacy must refer to and engage with Gillain’s arguments, so it is wonderful finally to see her book available in English, and especially in such a fine a translation.”
 — Richard Neupert, author of A History of the French New Wave Cinema

“You’ll find no better critical study of Truffaut than this one by Anne Gillain. Her chapters ingeniously pair films to expose the secret that informs them all. We peer through these chapters as through a series of stereoscopic slides and find 'la Planète Truffaut' lying before us in vivid 3-D.”
 — Dudley Andrew, R. Seldon Rose Professor of Film and Comparative Literature, Yale University

“In addition to its trenchant anatomizing of Truffaut, this work is an excellent examination of the process of creation. . . . Highly recommended.”
 — Choice

“Truffaut fans will love this English translation of Gillain’s work drawing on the psychology and cinematography of the acclaimed filmmaker.”
 — Booklist

“Gillain's preface is succinct, lucid and illuminating.”
 — Spectator

“In her brilliant book, François Truffaut: The Lost Secret . . . Gillain serves us with a delicious reexamination of someone’s work that will make us want to sit down and take in all of Truffaut’s wonderful filmography at once.”
 — PopMatters