Delphine de Vigan is a French writer who has published several
books. One day in January she finds her mother who committed suicide. Delphine
decided to write about her mother’s life. She talks to all the aunts and uncles
and other people who knew her mother, to get as much information as possible.
Lucile was
the third child in a large family. Her parents, Liane and Georges were very
fond of each other and with so many brothers and sisters there was always
something going on. Lucile was an exceptionally beautiful child and had a
career as a child-model, she was photographed for children’s clothing etc.
There were
also dark clouds at the horizon, a younger brother died in an accident, and a
fosterbrother died in strange circumstances.
It seems Lucile’s childhood was
not as carefree as it looked. Perhaps her rebellion when she was a teenager was
already a sign something was wrong. Some members of the family, (among those a
brother) killed themselves by shooting themselves in the head.
For Lucile
there were years filled with depression and manic episodes, fueled by drugs,
alcohol and familysecrets. Delphine and her younger sister Manon are witnesses
and have to live with the consequences.
It is hard
to write a family history, especially when the people you write about are close
to you, like your mother. What makes it even harder is that everybody has their
own version of the events and nobody likes it when his or her version is being
questioned. This can make speaking with family members about events
challenging.
It is not
easy to hold your distance, as becomes clear in Nothing holds back the night. The first part, about Lucile’s
childhood is told in a beautiful way. The later parts, where Delphine de Vigan is a witness and
often victim of her mother’s actions, sometimes become lists of what happened,
not much story telling going on there. This makes parts a little less
interesting to read sometimes.
It does
become very clear what influence your family and upbringing can have on your
life and how it a psychological disease can make life difficult and unbearable.
Not only for the people who suffer from it, but also for their familymembers,
especially children.
On the
whole I thought Nothing holds back the
night a beautiful and profound book, although I personally thought the
first part was better than the later parts.
Original
French title: Rien ne s’oppose á la nuit
Published
in 2011
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