US author wins top French literary prize

American author Richard Ford's novel "Canada" about a boy whose parents rob a bank on Wednesday won the Femina Prize for best foreign novel, one of France's top literary awards. The Femina Prize is awarded in three categories -- best French novel, best foreign novel and best essay -- by an all-woman jury. The Femina committee awarded its prize for best French novel to Cameroonian author Leonora Miano for "La Saison de l'ombre" ("The Season of Darkness") about the loss of loved ones experienced by sub-Saharan Africans during the slave trade. Miano has lived in France since 1991. Best essay went to Jean-Paul and Raphael Enthoven for a work entitled "Dictionnaire amoureux de Proust".