The jury behind France’s top literary prize, the Goncourt, was accused of two ethical breaches Tuesday after the shortlist included a book by the boyfriend of one of the judges. The same judge also wrote a scathing review of one of the other contenders for the prize after it had been nominated. “The literary prize season has barely begun and already the first selection for the Goncourt seems mired in a conflict of interest,” France Inter radio wrote on its website. It pointed out that jury member Camille Laurens was the girlfriend of philosopher Francois Noudelmann, shortlisted for the Goncourt for his memoir “Les Enfants de Cadillac”. Defending the jury, the president of the Goncourt Academy, Didier Decoin, told France Inter: “We felt this was not a reason to penalise a good book.” The academy’s secretary, Philippe Claudel, told AFP that several jury members had liked the book before discovering the relationship. They had voted on the issue and decided there was nothing wrong with including friends and family in the selection, he said. Laurens’s scathing review in Le Monde of “La Carte postale” by Anne Berest was, however, a clear breach of the Goncourt rules, he added. The review was published earlier this month, shortly after the book had been was shortlisted for the Goncourt. “I didn’t like that at all. And we will talk about it,” Decoin told France Inter. The 10-person jury will announce this year’s winner on November 3.