Monique on the Run

“Édouard Louis describes another of his mother's battles, another of her escapes from violence. As in his previous works, he uses a deeply personal narrative to illustrate societal mechanisms.” Deník N

“One night, my mother called me. She told me that the man she lives with was drunk and insulting her. A few years ago, she left my father to escape a domestic prison, and now she was trapped again. This had been going on for a long time; she had been hiding it from me. I told her to leave immediately. But where could she go, with no money, no qualifications, no driving licence? What options are there for a woman who has spent her whole life just raising children and suffering male brutality?”

In his new work, Édouard Louis continues his mother's story, which he began to tell in the book-length essay 'A Woman's Battles and Transformations'. In this text, which borders on essay and prose, he rethinks and develops his reflections on male aggression and violence against women, once again giving a voice to those who would otherwise remain unheard.