French writer Laurent Mauvignier on Tuesday won France's top literary award, the Goncourt, for a 750-page family saga spanning more than a century.

The jury only needed one round of voting to select the 58-year-old author for "La Maison Vide" ("The Empty House"), an opus inspired by stories about his father's family that he heard while growing up.

"I'm overjoyed," Mauvignier said as he received the prize.

It's "a huge reward because it's a book that comes from (my) childhood and spans several generations."

Mauvignier had been vying for the Goncourt against fellow French writer and scriptwriter Emmanuel Carrere, Mauritian-French writer Nathacha Appanah, and Belgian author Caroline Lamarche.

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