The Guardian 'Brilliant Books to Read in 2025'
The Times 'The Critics Picks: 40 Books to Look Out For in 2025'

THE BOOK THAT TELLS THE FIRST-HAND STORY OF THE GISÈLE PELICOT TRIAL
AND GIVES A VOICE TO WOMEN WHO HAVE BEEN SILENCED

The trial of Dominique Pelicot, which began on 2 September 2024, has captured the world's attention. Behind the unthinkable crimes, are a mother, Gisèle Pelicot, and her daughter, Caroline Darian, who were forced to rebuild their lives.

This is their story.

In November 2020, Caroline Darian received a call from the police. Her father was in custody. The seizure of his computer equipment revealed the unimaginable: since 2013, he had drugged his wife before handing her over, in a state of unconsciousness, to men, from all ages and stages of life.

With exceptional courage, Darian recounts the earth-shattering discovery that a loved one, her own father, is capable of the worst. But more importantly, she shares the remarkable story of her mother Gisèle and how she carried on living, without self-pity, while learning to manage all of the things her husband once took care of. She shares how her mother managed to maintain her joie de vivre in circumstances none of us could imagine.

Gisèle has won acclaim around the world after she opted for a public trial, one in which Caroline herself has testified, turning the tables: the shame no longer borne by the victims in silence but directed, at last, to the abusers. Caroline has set up her own campaign, #MendorsPas: Stop Chemical Submission: Don't Put Me Under - to address the issue of chemical submission in the home. Together, mother and daughter reveal another side to the violence committed against women, as they bravely transform their private trauma into a collective fight.