In his novel The Day Rose DisappearedFrench writer Julien Sandrel shows that violence against women, unfortunately, still does not disappear.
French writer Julien Sandrel has been wanting to talk about violence against women for quite some time.
“The numbers are dizzying,” he says immediately. I don't know how things are in Canada, but in France we are talking about 300 thousand women who are victims of violence every year. I have a 13-year-old daughter who is about to start a romantic relationship, and I can't bring myself to raise her in a society that doesn't really address this issue directly.”
“Sometimes I hear people say that now we talk too much about femicide or violence against women,” continues Julien Sandrel, whom we contacted at his home in Paris. “I think we still don't really talk about this enough, and I wanted to speak out on this topic. It just took me a while to find the right angle to do it…”
This good angle can now be found in The Day Rose Disappearedhis eighth novel. And to be honest, this book made an impression on us. Because these two fragments of life that he tells are not only amazing in their accuracy, but also deeply touching.
House for women
So we will meet two women there. The first, Rose Malherbe, has always lived in a small village in the Walloon region of Belgium. It seems that she led a very ordinary life there, but she doesn’t even remember that. Three weeks ago she was the victim of a serious road accident and has had no memory since then. Her favorite foods, her childhood, her parents' names, the things she likes and doesn't like to do, were all erased. An important detail: according to the police investigating this tragedy, Rose attempted to commit suicide by crashing into a tree. For what reason? Again, she knows nothing about this.
The second wife, Aida Niame, is of Malian origin and can't help but move to a new city in France every two or three years. This time she chose La Seyne-sur-Mer, near Toulon, where she had just been hired at La Maison des Femmes to look after the children of those who came there for help.
“Last year, a French TV channel asked me to make a documentary about the actress Alexandre Lamy, whom I know well,” explains Julien Sandrel. I agreed to do this if we also talked about his commitments against violence against women. A coincidence of the calendar meant that I followed her to the opening of La Maison des Femmes de Montpellier, of which she is godmother. These homes are essentially care facilities that provide care but also offer long-term support in the form of remodeling workshops. Often women who are victims of violence have low self-esteem and simply participating in a gardening or jewelry making workshop makes them realize that they are capable of making things with their own hands. This is an ultra-restorative product. Thanks to the intervention of Ghada Hatem, founder of the first Maison des Femmes, I was able to meet 30-50 people of different profiles: victims, volunteers, workshop leaders, nurses, psychologists, etc. All this fed the journey of my heroines and helped me build the plot.”
Light at the end of the tunnel
What we know from the start – just read the text on the back cover – is that Rose and Aida's destinies are closely linked, even if they are separated by several hundred kilometers and have never heard of each other.
“I pretty quickly came up with what we call plot twist– explains Julien Sandrel. And in order to preserve it as much as possible, I really wanted two stories that would be separated geographically, and by atmosphere, and by what it says. I also really wanted to stand on the side of possible solutions and show that there are paths to recovery, outstretched hands and opportunities to escape when you are a victim of violence. I wanted to represent women who are struggling and also show that there is a way to move toward hope when we go through extremely difficult situations.”
Yes, an inspiring book.
HarperCollins Editions
The Day Rose Disappeared
Julien Sandrel
Harper Collins Editions
400 pages
