The Scent After the Rain
The Scent After the Rain, the French graphic novel by José Luis Munuera, based on the novel by Cédric Sapin-Defour, is a tender story that captures the profound bond between Cédric and his dog, Ubac.
The book Son odeur après la pluie (His Scent After the Rain) is an extraordinarily tender and moving work by French author Cédric Sapin-Defour. It is a deeply emotional autobiographical story about the author himself and his dog, Ubac.
The book was published in France in March 2023 by Éditions Stock, without any major advertising campaign, as the author was relatively unknown to the wider literary public. However, readers who discovered the book, along with a growing number of independent booksellers, fell in love with it and began recommending it wholeheartedly. Within just a few months, it appeared on bestseller lists, selling 70,000 copies. In Greece, it was published in 2025 by Kokkini Klosti Demeni.
Today, the book has sold more than 500,000 copies, and its commercial success has led to adaptations across different artistic mediums. The story was adapted into a graphic novel by publisher Le Lombard, while the moving relationship between Cédric and Ubac was brought to the stage, premiering at the Théâtre Lucernaire in Paris. A film adaptation is also already in development.
The book has received numerous awards, including the Goncourt des animaux 2023, Author of the Year 2023 by Livres Hebdo magazine, the Q d’or 2024 award from the television programme Quotidien, and the Grand Prix Centrale Canine 2023.
The story follows the life of the author himself, a physical education teacher and passionate mountaineer, as he meets Ubac, a large Bernese Mountain Dog. Through everyday experiences, walks and life's challenges, Cédric, a self-confessed loner, develops a relationship of profound connection and love with his beloved dog.
Inevitably, the story also portrays Ubac's ageing and eventual loss, reflecting the painful reality that a dog's life passes much faster than a human's. Experiencing such a relationship can teach us unconditional love and gratitude for life — lessons that an animal offers us so generously.
The author could never have imagined his book being adapted into a graphic novel. In the afterword, he writes:
"I believed the magic worked simply because I was the one writing. Because my soul, my heart and my body were entirely devoted to the act of writing. I was wrong. I discovered this when I first held the drawings José Luis Munuera had sent me. The impression was so powerful that it shook my bittersweet nostalgia. And yet, I had done nothing. I held no pencil, I had not moved a single finger, I had neither inhaled nor exhaled. These pages were entirely his work."
For his part, José Luis Munuera thanks Cédric for lending him his story so that he could tell his own...
Munuera's stunning artwork brings an entirely new dimension to the story. His expansive double-page spreads, combining realistic and dreamlike imagery, transport readers into a captivating visual world and offer a deeply rewarding reading experience.
At the same time, the graphic novel's structure, divided into seven chapters, each narrated from a different perspective, creates a rich and profound portrayal of the protagonist's relationship with his beloved dog.
José Luis Munuera is a distinguished Spanish comic book artist who studied Fine Arts at the University of Granada. Although he began his career in Spain, he established himself in the Franco-Belgian comics scene, collaborating with major publishers such as Delcourt and Dupuis. He gained international recognition when he took over the artwork for the iconic classic series Spirou et Fantasio (2004–2008), written by Jean-David Morvan.
Cédric Sapin-Defour is a French author, physical education teacher and mountaineer who lives in the French Alps. His writing focuses on humanity's profound need to reconnect with nature. He gained international recognition and was named Author of the Year in France in 2024 thanks to his autobiographical book Son odeur après la pluie. Translated into more than twenty languages, the book has become a publishing phenomenon.
