Camille Kouchner - The Familia Grande

Camille Kouchner - The Familia Grande  

4 ⭐

Genre:  Non-Fiction, Memoir, Cultural, Translated Literature, French Literature

Translated by: Adriana Hunter

Original Title: La Familia Grande 

Original Language: French 

Pages: 288 

Format: Paperback Proof Copy 

Publisher: Brazen / Octopus Publishing 

Date Published: 5th May 2022 (UK)

Massive thanks to Octopus Publishing for a copy of the book to read and review! 

Book Blurb: 

The shocking story of how incest and sexual abuse are ever-present at the highest levels of French society, even among the most glamorous, powerful, bohemian, left-wing intellectual Parisian élite.

A family's secret weighs on everyone...

THE FAMILIA GRANDE is a tender, groundbreaking and lacerating memoir written by a sister who could no longer remain silent...

Set in amongst the French intellectual elite in Paris and their lavender-scented estates in Provence, it tells a story of a corrosive secret that sits in a family for decades and ultimately razes it and the political, and literary elite that enabled its silence, to the ground.

Already an international bestseller, it has touched a nerve across the globe and has brought about a powerful reckoning of incest, and its far-reaching trauma.

The Familia Grande is a book of a generation.

My Review: 

Not going to lie, after I read this book, it took me a few weeks to be able to sit down and write a review about it. I just couldn’t find the right words as this memoir was absolutely shocking and heartbreaking.

The story follows Camille, who tells a story about her growing up surrounded by La Familia Grande, a family and friends of the family all at the top of the French Elite in the 1980s. The Familia Grande was not only her mother, an academic and French feminist activist but also her stepfather, who was also abusing and grooming his stepchildren. Her mother did not seem to care or see the abuse, as she was very open about sexuality and raised her children in a very over-sexualised environment.

The author tells her story of how her twin brother was sexually assaulted numerous times by their stepfather. Whilst she knew about it, she was afraid to tell anyone or say something mainly because, she craved her stepfather's love, as it was the only parental love she ever got. She never got any true motherly love from her mother, who was more bothered by hosting parties with the Familia Grande and later, after a family tragedy, holding herself as a prisoner in her grief. The author’s real father, instead of loving his children was more concerned with his new family. Thus, all it was left of Camille was her stepfather's love.

However, throughout the book, the author realises how much damage being silent has done to her and how much being abused had affected her brother and even ruined their relationship for a while. As she grows older, she pressurises her brother to speak out, as she also speaks out too.

This book is a lot to take in, as it deals with so much, including dysfunctional family, death, sexual assaults, family relationships, and incest, to name a few. It is also one of those books that are so hard to review.

Overall:  All I can say is that it is a very well-written memoir. I am glad I read it, although, I don’t think I would ever re-read it, as there were quite a few triggers. I really liked that very informal style, as it reads like a diary, which makes the story very authentic and real. The author poured her feelings and soul into this book and that’s why together with the topics explored it was hard to read at times. I highly recommend people read this book as it is a very personal and moving memoir, exploring the very personal lives of top-tier French elites in the 1980s and 1990s. Especially recommended if you are interested in French culture, politics and the elite, as this book did start a movement and a law change in France after being published. So definitely a very important book for educational purposes too. 

About the Author: 

Camille Kouchner was born in 1975 in Paris. She is the daughter of the late French writer and political scientist Évelyne Pisier and Bernard Kouchner, a co-founder of Doctors Without Borders. She is a lawyer and senior lecturer at the University of Paris with a specialization in labour, contract, and health law. The Familia Grande is her English debut.

https://www.hachette.co.uk/contributor/camille-kouchner/