Je vous écris dans le noir par Jean-Luc Seigle (review)

Seigle, Jean-Luc. Je vous écris dans le noir. Paris: Flammarion, 2015. ISBN 978-20812 -9240-6. Pp. 234. 18 a. When the Second World War starts, Pauline Dubuisson is only an adolescent living in a small town in Northern France. Her world as she knows it changes completely. Her brothers die at the front and her family falls into moral disarray. Against the values of her Catholic middle-class education, she is encouraged by her father to become the lover of a German officer to serve his own interests during the war. At sixteen and a half she is accused of treason by the French Resistance and her head is shaved for having slept with the enemy. She escapes death at the very last moment. In 1953, at age 21 and in medical school, Pauline is condemned by a French criminal court for murdering her ex-fiancé, but she is set free early due to good behavior in prison. Then, in 1961, she is portrayed as a coldblooded murderer by Brigitte Bardot in Clouzot’s La vérité. Pauline is profoundly affected by the film. She abandons France and moves to Morocco under a false name. According to Seigle, these are the real facts on which his novel Je vous écris dans le noir is based. The story is narrated by Pauline in the first person, giving her the opportunity to tell her story for the first time. It is the story, not of a criminal, but of a passionate young woman who defies stereotypes and narrates her life, giving it an inner voice, a captivating view of the world that surrounds her.Yet it is humane and is presented with tremendous empathy by Seigle. The reader witnesses Seigle’s efforts to rehabilitate the image of Pauline Dubuisson, which was tarnished by her contemporaries. She emerges as passionate and full of life despite the constant attempts to be shuttered by the violence of her father’s betrayal, the exploitation of her ex-fiancé, and the collective rape by the Resistance group while in prison after the war—an event that was never previously acknowledged. Despite all the brutality she experiences, broken by the lack of love, she keeps trying to gather strength and attempts to trust men and restart her life. Gradually Pauline opens up and talks to the last man she loved and hoped would not betray her about her relationships from childhood. The narration seems to be the only time that Pauline has control of her life. It is addressed to the last man she loved in Morocco, indicating a new sense of self and clarity as her last chance to believe in humanity. Thanks to the writing of Seigle, Pauline is given a voice she was never allowed to have during her life. Her ultimate confession presents a broader perspective about justice and puts the values of a society into question. They have failed Pauline along with many other women who defied its rules. St. John’s University (NY) Zoe Petropoulou 252 FRENCH REVIEW 90.1 ...