Et la joie de vivre

by Gisèle Pelicot

Pour la première fois, la femme qui a ému le monde par son courage raconte son histoire. «Cette histoire ne m'appartient plus totalement. Elle a réveillé une douleur muette et profonde, montée de la nuit des temps. Elle a suscité la sidération. Comment comprendre ce qui m'est arrivé, ce que mon calvaire a ensuite déclenché? Il m'a fallu marcher le long d'une faille, la mienne. Comme le funambul…

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Feminism, Audiobook, Biography, Biography Memoir, True Crime

312 pages, Unknown Binding

First published February 17, 2026

Reviews

[Ebby · Rating 5 out of 5]

She deserves a five star for being a phenomenal woman

[Rebecca]

Shame HAS TO Change Sides

[aaliyah johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 ⭐️ / 5 ⭐️

“And yet the feeling persists: love is not dead. I am not dead. I still have faith in people. Once, that was my greatest weakness. Now it is my strength.”

I honestly don’t think I have words to explain how this book made me feel. As someone who has been SA’d, this book was inspiring. It was so raw and honest, not sparing any of the horrifying details of what Gisele went through.

I spent the entire book in tears, from her sad childhood, to her battling within her self to understand what she’s been through, to the breakdown of her family.. I was in tears and completely captivated.

I’m so glad Gisele decided to share her story with the world.
She deserves better than the cards she was dealt and I hope the remainder of her life is filled with peace & love.

[Traci Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really well done memoir for a public figure. The storytelling is thoughtful and has artistic merit, Pelicot is not just recounting her trauma sequentially -- she weaves in her past and the story of her family. I think the book does a good job delving into the abuses she suffered without being too graphic. By the end the book sort of lost its way becoming more about the events of the trial. Overall though this is a book I appreciated and am glad I read. Should out the translators and Emma Thompson (the narrator) who added to the text that Pelicot has offered us.

[Cortnie]

Gisele Pelicot has more bravery and strength in her little finger than most men could hope to accumulate in a lifetime.

A searingly bold account of one woman's horrific ordeal that has gripped me since the moment I heard about it.

Check trigger warnings on this one for sure.

Emma Thompson narrates the audiobook and did a fantastic job.

[Belinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

100 stars. What an amazing woman and family.

[Matthias · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eine Autobiographie zu bewerten fällt schwer, denn was bewertet man da eigentlich? Das Leben eines anderen Menschen? Die schriftstellerische Qualität? Kann man die Aufzeichnungen eines Lebens- und Leidenswegs „bewerten“? So grausig die geschilderten Verbrechen schon beim Lesen sind, so bewundernswert erscheinen die Kraft, die Beharrlichkeit und das ausgeprägte Rechtsempfinden von Frau Pelicot. Ob die Scham tatsächlich die Seiten gewechselt hat oder zumindest beginnt, es zu tun, wird sich zeigen. Sollte dem so sein, kann der Anteil, den die Autobiographie Gisèle Pelicots daran hat, gar nicht hoch genug eingeschätzt werden.

Am Ende schreibt sie: „Und das ist wohl auch der Grund, warum ich mich dem Prozess gestellt habe. Die ganze Welt hatte damit gerechnet, mich als Wrack erscheinen zu sehen. Aber das war nicht der Fall. Ich wusste noch genau, warum ich Dominique geliebt hatte, und ich sagte dem Gericht, dass ich vermutlich den Rest meines Lebens damit verbringen würde, wenigstens das eine oder andere aus meinem Erinnerungsschatz zu retten. Man würde mich niemals auf diesen geschundenen Körper reduzieren, meine Seele, sowohl die des jungen Mädchens, das ich einst war, als auch die der Frau, die ich heute bin, ist nicht an ihn gebunden. Eigenartig, diese beiden zusammenzudenken, die eine überlagert die andere, ich weiß, worin sie sich ähneln, weiß um den Lebensdrang, den sie gemeinsam haben, aber ich weiß auch, wodurch sie sich unterscheiden. Ich bin nicht mehr die in Schockstarre verfallene Ehefrau auf der Polizeiwache. Nicht mehr diejenige, die ich war, als ich noch nichts von Dominiques wahrem Gesicht ahnte. Ich komme voran.”

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an devastating story of one woman’s abuse and betrayal by her own husband and her fight for justice. I had only heard a little about Gisele Pelicots story and I was horrified by the actual degrading sexual abuse she was subjected to in her own home by her own husband and others. The fact that the symptoms of the drugging and raped actually lead her to believe that she was developing an illness was heartbreaking. When discovering the truth of the shocking abuse that occurred in her marriage she bravely documents her search for justice whilst recounting her recollection of her marriage of a monster who was hiding in plain sight. Gisele Pelicots strength is something else which shines through the audiobook that is wonderfully narrated by Emma Thompson.

[Derek Driggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely shocking; completely necessary. A brave woman taking control of her life in the aftermath of complete horror. A rejoinder to aphorisms that encourage us to live in our pain and demand retribution before we can heal; also, a complete condemnation of the insipid, ever-present patriarchal abuse of women in our societies. A meditation on memory and identity and what we are allowed to claim of our past when we are forced to change perspective. Also, an incredibly poignant accomplishment of a memoir that is both simple and lyrical. I’ve rarely seen an inner experience so well verbalized.

I find the author to be an incredible human being, and the ghost writer to be a literary gift. This felt like it was ghostwritten by Elena Ferrante. And the translation to English was masterful.

I recommend the audio version of this, as Emma Thompson’s narration is flawless and deserves its own accolades.

Trigger warning goes without saying here; the content is shocking. But even as the most utterly disgusting underbelly of humanity is brought to light through this story, the reader, and everyone who has followed the writer throughout, leave with hope in a better world and newfound belief in the resilience we possess.

[Darina · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Not all men", but 52 men raping a drugged woman for 10 years.

I listened. It was like being punched.
I had to squeeze past them during breaks in the proceedings. I heard them talking, not even bothering to lower their voices, naturally buoyed by male camaraderie. I saw them high-fiving each other, going to the café across the street at lunchtime, chatting at the bar, buying rounds of beer, laughing. They bonded with each other simply because they were convinced they had done nothing wrong. And yet they didn't resemble one another: some were articulate, others could barely string a sentence together in the witness box; there were old men, bald men, men with paunches, men who were young and athletic; one was constantly chewing gum; another had brought along some policeman friends for support. But they did share one thing: a sense of entitlement.
An attitude of complete indifference to whatever anyone said or thought, because power had always been on their side.

I wanted to leave. To go home. For the trial to continue without me. So many times I was tempted to go back to my island. But there were all those messages I kept receiving, that crowd, the women waiting for me outside the courtroom whom I could not disappoint. Just as I could not concede a victory to the rapists and their defenders.

'What is rape?" the judge asked him.
'It's when someone is tied up and forced to have sex, he said. 'But I didn't use any violence.'
His answer was steeped in grotesque male entitlement.
The year that had gone by since the first trial had not forced him to reflect on what had happened, just as it had not stifled the sniggers and comments that can still be heard in the outside world; even among supposedly thoughtful people, apparently there are still those who don't entirely believe me. We should ask all these idiots with their millennia-old misogyny the question that the judge enunciated slowly and clearly, the way one would to a child:
"Did she act in the way that a woman does when she agrees to it?'
'No, the defendant conceded.

She is an international treasure. Protect & respect Gisèle Pelicot at all costs.

[Summer]

Review to come

[Chrissie Whitley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will have to find the words.

Review to follow.

[Olivia Padilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Left me speechless. So much resilience came out of horror.

[zoloftprincessdiaries6-9]

Very very excited to read this book

Pelicot is an exceptional woman with a heart of gold. I listened to her story on NPR this morning and was genuinely moved by despite the interview being in French.

[Laura Jebookine · Rating 5 out of 5]

J’ai tant d’amour pour cette grande dame. Bien plus grande que tous les petits moins que rien qui ont croisé sa route sans son consentement. Ceux-là, je ne leur souhaite rien de moins que de mourir dans d’atroces souffrances les uns après les autres. Sans aucun soutien, aucune humanité, ni compassion, exactement de la façon dont ils ont traité Gisèle. Et ce sera bien fait pour eux.

Cette grande dame, cette guerrière qui malgré tout ce par quoi elle est passée, pas seulement son monstre d’ex mari, arrive encore à croire en l’amour et se refuse à détester les hommes. Moi, comme d’autres, on est bien assez à les détester à sa place.

Gisèle qui n’est qu’amour et n’a toujours souhaité qu’une famille heureuse, le bonheur de ses enfants et petits-enfants, ne mérite rien de moins. Je souhaite de tout cœur que cette grande petite dame puisse se reconstruire aux côtés de ses enfants, tous unis, malgré les ombres et les traumatismes dont ils ont été victimes.

[Donna Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Difficult to read, but what a tribute to a remarkable woman who refused to become a victim.

So many women, and some men, stayed outside the courtroom at the trial of Gisèle Pelicot’s husband and the fifty other rapists. These focused supporters helped Gisèle by expressing their support and understanding of all that she was forced to go through. This included the years of abuse and the added trauma of a four-month trial.

Gisèle was “named as the most noteworthy person of 2024 in an opinion pole in France, eclipsing world leaders, and was honored by Time. To mark International Women’s Day, the Independent named her the most influential woman of 2025.” In addition, “She has been awarded the Légion d’honneur, France’s highest, civic honour.”

[Olivia Heuts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Om man bara ska läsa/lyssna en enda biografi i sitt liv så är det denna. Tårar, ilska, gåshud, ren skräck och fasa. Och hopp. (Inte för mänskligheten, men för människan).

Det har pratats mycket om det chockerande i att det fanns så många män inom en 5-milsradie som kunde göra något sånt här, men att man sen också kunde hitta minst lika många advokater som kunde med att försvara det? Och med den retorik och de påhopp de använde sig av dessutom.

Rekommenderar den svenska inläsningen av ljudboken, den kändes autentisk och personlig.

[Inga Grencberga · Rating 5 out of 5]

[..] the present does not erase the past …
To fight the emptiness - I need to love [..]

Šis ir apbrīnojamākais Sievietes Spēka stāsts …

[♡Rissa♡ (sparklylibros) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story of Gisele Pelicot is one of a remarkably strong women who’s life is completely torn apart by the hideous assaults of her husband and the men he allowed into their home.

I remember when this story first broke news I was so shocked. But when she came forward with her identity and wanted the trial to share who her assaulters were it was honestly such an impactful moment for victims – maybe more so than she ever thought.

There is a part in her story where she says something along the lines of if this had happened to her 20 years ago she would have kept it anonymous, but now at her age she has no shame and is brave to speak out.

This memoir she writes I believe was something very cathartic for Gisele. She relays her life with her ex husband and both of their childhoods, the days leading up to him being arrested and the after effects that happen to her and her children. In no way is she ever glorifying her husband but retelling their time together and trying to understand how it could all happen.

I want to hug Gisele and thank her for doing something many women can not. In speaking out it is what she has set out to do, and shift shame to the other side. Victims doesn’t mean you are weak, in fact it means you are a lot stronger and have a lot more power than you think.

I will cherish this memoir and this profound woman. This is an excellent memoir and while at times it can be somewhat graphic I believe it is worth reading and sharing.

[Aurora]

Voorheen heb ik de boeken van Gisèle’s dochter geen rating gegeven, dus passend als ik dat ook nu niet doe. Want hoe beoordeel je een waargebeurd verhaal in sterren? ‘Ode aan het leven’ is een boeiend verhaal. Ik had al enige voorkennis van de zaak dus het had voor mij geen hoge shockfactor, maar ik denk dat dit anders is als je het allemaal voor het eerst leest. Gisèle is een enorm inspirerend en krachtig mens. Ik heb bewondering voor haar moed en ben in die zin dankbaar dat ik haar verhaal heb mogen lezen. Zij heeft veel vrouwen kracht geschonken en het doet me goed dat zij de internationale steun van vrouwen, zowel online als daadwerkelijk bij de rechtbank, ook zo heeft ervaren.

[Shannon Waters · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Hymn to Life by Gisèle Pelicot is one of those books that stays with you long after you’ve turned the final page. It tells a profoundly tragic story, but it is written with such honesty and dignity that it feels less like a memoir of suffering and more like a testament to survival. Pelicot does not sensationalize her pain; instead, she carefully lays bare the emotional devastation, betrayal, and long road toward reclaiming herself.

Having read her daughter’s book as well, I was already aware of the strength that runs through this family, but reading Gisèle’s own voice adds an entirely different depth. The courage it must have taken to share her story so openly is staggering. There is grief in these pages, but there is also resilience, quiet defiance, and a powerful insistence on dignity.

A heartbreaking yet empowering read.

[Frida · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jävla tung men viktig bok. Tack Gisèle Pelicot.
Gråter och är arg vartannat. Och tänker på alla kvinnor.

”Det dubbla ansiktet. Det som gråter och det som långsamt dödar mig.”

”Det finns sånt man glömmer. Sånt man föredrar att glömma. Sånt drömmarna berättar för oss om vår obestämda ängslan men som man inte hör. För det väsentliga finns redan där. Det står redan skrivet. ”

”För om jag inte älskar är det tomheten som vinner och då är jag ingenting.”

[Clara]

Merci Gisèle. 🖤

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

My god. One of those books you read in one go because it’s written so well but also because if you put it down before you get to the end you’re afraid the horrors will chase you. She writes that she doesn’t think she’s that strong. She is, she really is. As are her children.

[Cristina Valega · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am out of words after reading this book. Simply, THANK YOU, with admiration, sadness, love, and so much gratefulness to Gisèle.
And being reminded of how much we need to do and change as people and as a society.

[Aggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gisèle did not want anything but a simple and normal family life. Except, her husband Dominique, down on luck, wanted more. His knavery, sexual in nature, held a clandestine life.

Unbeknownst to Gisèle, her husband’s secret would shock not only her, but the whole of France shook them to the core.

The news broke out in 2020 and the sentencing in 2024. Dominique Pelicot received the maximum of 20 years.

I admired her decision to make the trial public. “Shame has to change sides.”

[Jule Fuchs · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow, das Buch ist wirklich lesenswert für alle die es aushalten können. Ich fand es unvorstellbar heftig und trotzdem menschlich und nahbar. Eine umwerfenden starke, mutige Frau, die unfassbares durchgestanden hat und ihre Lebensgeschichte mit uns teilt

[shcatharsis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Difficile d'émettre un avis sur ce livre. J'ai pleuré, ça c'est clair.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I felt very, very sick at some points during this memoir. It was a hard read in general. I also feel conflicted about rating it at all because the meaning of the different stars (like „I enjoyed it“ or „it was amazing“) don‘t correlate with how I feel about it. But I still want to encourage other people to read it and experience it for themselves. I think everybody should.

[Ashleeeeee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Devastating. For me; for women; for this awful culture of patriarchy.