Elle
A Novel
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- 10,99 €
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- 10,99 €
Publisher Description
Elle is a psychological thriller that recounts thirty days in the life of its heroine Michèle—powerfully portrayed by Isabelle Huppert in Paul Verhoeven's award-winning film—where memory, sex, and death collide on every page.
A few weeks before Christmas, Michèle picks herself up from her living room floor. She has been raped. She has almost no recollection of her attacker but she senses his presence—he is never far away—and this uncanny feeling triggers a whirlwind of events and memories. She begins to fear she is losing her grip on a life already complicated by a demanding job, an ex-husband with a new girlfriend, a jealous lover, and a son trapped in a relationship with his girlfriend pregnant by another man.
Hardened by the consequences of her father's violent past, Michèle—nearing fifty, fiercely independent and unsentimental—refuses to be reduced to a victim. When her rapist begins taunting her with messages, she takes measures to protect herself—until she discovers his identity.
Through the bitingly sarcastic and unflinchingly realist voice of its heroine, Elle paints a striking portrait of one woman's experience that challenges our notions of masculinity and femininity, weakness and strength.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Djian's slim, disturbing novel, already a controversial bestseller in France, is unsparing and fiercely intelligent. The book begins with narrator Mich le on her living room floor after being raped by an unknown attacker. Mich le, "nearing fifty, fiercely independent and unsentimental," reacts to this assault in the same way that she meets most of the demands of her life: with incisive wit, brutal honesty, and an almost unnerving composure. In spite of the attack, she continues to manage a demanding career, financial responsibility for her son and her mother, and an affair with her best friend's husband. However, Mich le's assailant does not disappear. He breaks into her home while she is away; he taunts her with lewd and threatening messages. As Mich le tries to discover who her attacker is, readers come to learn of her family's violent past and understand how this history shapes her present and how the present circumstances reshape her history. Djian's bold novel, winner of the 2012 Prix Interalli and adapted into an award-winning film directed by Paul Verhoeven, is slight but packs a powerful punch.
