Óda na život

by Gisèle Pelicot, Petra Zikmundová (Translator)

Óda na život není příběhem oběti.
Je memoárem ženy, která se odmítla vzdát.

Když byla osmašedesátiletá Gisèle Pelicot předvolána na policii, netušila, že její dosavadní život právě končí. Manžela, s nímž strávila padesát let, přistihla ostraha supermarketu při natáčení záběrů pod sukněmi žen. Následné vyšetřování odhalilo zdrcující skutečnost ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠– Dominique Pelicot své ženě devět let tajně podával omamné látky, v bezvědomí ji znásilňoval a do jejich domova zval desítky cizích mužů, aby ji zneužívali také. Vše si pečlivě dokumentoval.

O čtyři roky později stanul s dalšími padesáti muži před soudem. A Gisèle učinila krok, který změnil její osud, francouzskou legislativu i pohled světové veřejnosti na sexuální násilí.

„To oni musí zahanbeně sklonit hlavu, ne já,“ prohlásila a otevřela soudní jednání veřejnosti.
Gisèle Pelicot se stala hlasem i tváří milionů obětí sexuálního zneužívání a domácího násilí. Její slova obletěla svět. Její odvaha inspirovala.

Nyní vypráví svůj příběh vlastními slovy.

Vrací se k dětství, kariéře, mateřství i manželství. Přináší silné poselství o zotavení. Připomíná, že oběti nemají žádný důvod k hanbě. Že i po nepředstavitelné zradě lze jít dál – a znovu nalézt radost ze života i lásku.

„Stále věřím v lidi. Kdysi to byla má největší slabost. Dnes je to zdroj mé síly.“

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

248 pages, Hardcover

First published February 17, 2026

About the author

Gisèle Pelicot (French: [ʒizɛl peliko]; née Guillou, born 7 December 1952) is a French woman who became a feminist icon in 2024, when she waived her right to anonymity as the victim in a multiple rape case.

Between 2011 and 2020, she had been drugged and raped by her husband Dominique and dozens of other men while she was unconscious, mostly in the couple's home in Mazan. She only became aware of the abuse in 2020, when Dominique was arrested for upskirting women in a local supermarket and a police search of his computer equipment revealed images of her being raped.

The case attracted international media attention and Gisèle's courage and determination to speak out on behalf of all victims of sexual assault won her international support and admiration. She later appeared in the BBC's 2024 100 Women and the Financial Times list of the twenty‑five most influential women of the year. She was appointed a knight of the Legion of Honour on Bastille Day (14 July 2025). In February 2026, she published a co-written memoir.
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(Fr)
Gisèle Pelicot, née Guillou le 7 décembre 1952 à Villingen en Allemagne[1], est une cadre retraitée française connue pour avoir été la victime de l'affaire des viols de Mazan. Elle renonce à l'anonymat dès le début du procès pour les viols collectifs subis de 2011 à 2020. L'affaire a un retentissement international.

Pendant neuf ans, son mari Dominique Pelicot la place régulièrement à son insu dans un sommeil par soumission chimique, pour la violer et la faire violer par d'autres hommes. Les faits, mis au jour en 2020, sont sanctionnés par la cour criminelle d'Avignon au terme d'un procès de près de quatre mois ; les cinquante mis en cause sont reconnus coupables le 19 décembre 2024 (quarante-six de viol aggravé, deux de tentatives de viol et deux d'agression sexuelle, ainsi qu'un cinquante-et-unième pour le viol de son épouse selon la même méthode, en présence de Dominique Pelicot) et condamnés à des peines allant de trois à vingt ans de réclusion criminelle.

Son comportement pendant le procès, et principalement son renoncement à l'anonymat par la levée du huis-clos, confère à Gisèle Pelicot une réputation internationale. Qualifiée par certains d'« icône » du féminisme, elle est louée pour avoir donné une visibilité à ce qui lui est arrivé.

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Source: Wikipedia

Reviews

[Ebby · Rating 5 out of 5]

She deserves a five star for being a phenomenal woman

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

“They did share one thing - a sense of entitlement.”

Shame HAS TO Change Sides. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Dear Gisele, thank you for your courage, your honesty, your humanity.

[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.

[Samantha Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew this would be a difficult read, but felt I owed it to Madame Pelicot to bear witness to her story told in her own words. It's frank about the horrors she endured at the hands of monsters, their utter cowardice in court, and the difficulty of the trial, during which she was accused of complicity with her abusers. I was brought to tears of anger and grief several times, but also left in awe of her courage.

[Nuno Markl · Rating 5 out of 5]

O livro de Gisèle Pelicot é surpreendentemente positivo em face da monstruosidade que lhe foi perpetrada, o que é uma janela aberta para a sua personalidade optimista e empática. É muito comovente a maneira como tenta compartimentar a sua existência - dissociar-se da mulher drogada até ao ponto da anestesia geral, separar o Dominique monstro perverso do Dominique que amou toda a sua vida. É particularmente doloroso sabê-la a pensar se ele na prisão não terá frio e a preparar agasalhos para lá deixar. Este hino à vida reconhece o horror que atravessou, mas também - e apesar da pressão do mundo, que mesmo com todas as provas ainda ousou agredi-la mais uma vez, sugerindo que ela pudesse estar consciente e a consentir aquela violência - a urgência de virar a vergonha para o lado que tem de a sentir neste momento, a dos violadores mas também dos eternos cúmplices na opinião pública que vomitam que “a culpa também é delas”. Um belo livro, sensível e não sensacionalista, didático para quem tiver o pudor de se calar um bocadinho para ouvir. Ou ler.

[Cecily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why?
I had no desire to know more about this horrific case (drug rapes over more than a decade, by more than fifty men) than I picked up from the news. But I flicked through this at the library and was captivated by the writing. Gisèle does not shy away from her husband’s crimes against her, but she eschews graphic details (as does my review). It’s an introspective, psychological look at trauma, memory, evil, and the differing consequences for the whole family.
“It happened to me, but it wasn’t me.”

Gisèle is consistently determined to find and cherish a few happy and unadulterated memories, to understand what happened and why, and to challenge rape culture and misogynist entitlement. She doesn’t hate men.

“My entire life had fallen apart, but I was [medically] fine”
She knows what was done to her, but has no memory of it.

Her greatest sadness is the estrangement from her daughter and thus grandchildren.


Image: Île de Ré, where Gisèle found peace on long, solo beach walks (Source)

Strands
Chapter 1 starts as a normal day of retirement in rural France - except they have an appointment at the police station about Dominique’s upskirting charge. They are taken to separate rooms and a male police officer breaks the news of Dominique’s horrific crimes to Gisèle, with photos. Chapter 2 goes back 50 years, to their first meeting, age 18, falling almost instantly in love.

The two timelines alternate, each going forward chronologically. It’s a very effective way to tell the story clearly, and to keep a regular dose of happy moments.

This felt firmly in Gisèle’s voice (not that I have any real way to know), but some credit goes to Judith Perrignon who helped her write it, and the translators, Natasha Lehrer and Ruth Diver.

Childhood
Gisèle’s life is marked by the death of mother, when she was only nine. She loved her father and brother, but acquired an unkind step-mother. She found respite in summers with her maternal aunt's family in the countryside:
“Chateaux dotted around the landscape, the sometimes sumptuous, sometimes crumbling old buildings… seemed to open doors on other centuries, other worlds.”
She left home as soon as she could, determined to be independent. Initially she worked as a secretary, but climbed the corporate ladder, being adept with office computers when they were still new.

Dominique was a lonely child, surrounded by violent men. As an adult, he had a chequered job history as an electrician and (real) estate agent, with stints of unemployment. He was bad with money and often in debt.

Both were determined to give their children the kind of family life they had not had, and Gisèle believed they succeeded. The bailiffs came at least once. She had a brief affair. He did too. They reconciled. The children were always loved and cherished. He sometimes asked her do things that she refused to do. He didn’t force her - though he did tease her for being a prude. He was violent “only once”, and that was when he thought she was going to leave him. With hindsight, she remembers a couple of times that drinks looked or tasted odd.

Processing the horror
When Gisèle is told what was done to her, she first worries about how to tell her three adult children, especially her daughter, Caroline. The different ways mother and daughter react is at the heart of this narrative.

Gisèle is relieved to realise her decade of blackouts and memory lapses are not due to a brain tumour. She wants to understand the Dominique so different from the man she thought she knew and loved - and she wants to do so alone. Caroline smashes crockery, destroys photographs, and wants her mother’s embrace.

Further estrangement arises from two photos of adult Caroline, asleep in underwear. She is convinced this means her father drug-raped her too, but Gisèle, while shocked by the incestuous gaze, takes comfort in the fact they fall short of proof of rape, and hopes it didn’t happen. Caroline feels betrayed and unsupported in her trauma.

Victimhood
Gisèle does not want to be seen as a victim or a hero, but she is.

She was neither broken enough nor angry enough to be a plausible victim to some - including a magistrate and psychiatrist. She didn’t want to destroy everything. She wanted to make sense of it. She sent warm clothes to Dominique in prison. Some also said she must have suspected, and maybe even consented.

She chose to go public at the last minute, partly so her rapists were known, and was buoyed by supportive women outside court, as well as many who wrote to her. She is clear that the story is not just hers: it’s for women everywhere, including the mothers and wives of her rapists, and especially her family.

Court
Four years later, it comes to court:
“The autopsy of our relationship.”
Dominique pleads guilty to all crimes relating to her. But there’s a “pack” of fifty of her rapists facing her:
“The accused men stared at me defiantly. They would all be pleading not guilty.”
They are all ages and levels of education. The only thing they have in common is their sense of entitlement. The trial takes three gruelling months.

The 51 rapists who were charged were all convicted (17 appealed, but failed to overturn their convictions). Dominique will die in prison. But around 30 more could not be identified from the photos and videos. And there’s an unsolved rape and murder from 1999 in which Dominique is chief suspect.

Not quite a happy ending. Not really an ending. But Gisèle is a remarkable woman and I am glad she has found love with a new man. I hope Caroline finds closure and can be reconciled with her mother.

[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.

[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.

[Summer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The world tuned into Gisele Pelicot’s nightmare when the trial against her husband of 50 years had began. Her seemingly loving and devoted husband had been r-ping her, while inviting dozens of men to do the same all while Gisele was drugged and unaware.

In A Hymn to Life, Gisele discusses how Gisele initially discovered the truth to her husbands facade, her struggles to coming to terms with her abuse, and how she bravely decided to waive her right to anonymity in the trial so the world could see the faces of the men who assaulted her.

But Gisele is no victim. She tells her story not only to incite courage in other s-xual assault survivors but to turn the tables on the perpetrators, so that they instead are the ones who are to carry the shame and guilt.

Even though A Hymn to Life is a difficult read, it’s such a vital one. Stories like Gisele Pelicot’s shed light on the experience of sexual assault survivors which in turn teaches us as a society how we can better support them as well as how we can prevent future crimes like this from happening.

I listened to the audiobook format of A Hym to Life which is narrated by the actress Emma Thompson. If you pick this one up, I highly recommend this format.

A Hymn to Life: Shame Has To Change Sides by Gisèle Pelicot was published on February 17 so it's available now.
Many thanks to Penguin Random House Audio for the gifted audiobook!

[Quetzalli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Giséle es un ejemplo de resiliencia, y le estoy agradecida por compartir su historia.

[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.”

[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.

[Emely Zoe]

Ich möchte gar nicht groß etwas vorwegnehmen. Kurz und knapp: ein super wichtiges und relevantes Buch einer unheimlich starken und mutigen Frau!

Hier noch ein paar wichtige Textstellen:

Dennoch hat die Liebe mich nie verlassen. Sie ist nicht gestorben. Ich bin nicht gestorben. Ich bin immer noch in der Lage, anderen zu vertrauen. Das war einst meine große Schwäche, heute ist es meine Stärke. Letztendlich mein Sieg. - Seite 188

Die Mauer, die diese Männer Schulter an Schulter vor mir bilden würden. Wäre das für sie nicht ein Geschenk? Würde die verschlossenen Saaltür nicht vielmehr ihrem Schutz dienen als meinem? Niemand würde erfahren, was sie mir angetan hatten. - Seite 197

[Jonetta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life as Gisèle Pelicot once knew it changed in November 2020 when she received a call from the Avignon police, asking her to come to the station where her husband had been arrested for upskirting (taking photos or videos up women’s skirts). They discovered years of videos and photos on his laptop of her being raped by more than 70 men over the last ten years. Dominique Pelicot, the father of their three children, had been secretly drugging and raping her, along with strangers he’d invited to join in. As the investigation concluded and the prosecution prepared for trial in 2024, Gisèle made the shocking decision to allow the process to be public. This is her extraordinary story.

I was struck by how deeply personal, raw and unapologetic Gisèle is as she shares who she was before that fateful day and how she evolved to who she is today. She fought to do it her way, even when it was perplexing to those close to her. Gisèle accepts that many consider her a hero but doesn’t exactly own that mantle. Her decision to go public was thoughtful and a move to keep her power.

Emma Thompson brilliantly narrates Gisèle’s story, making me feel like it was the author’s voice. It felt personal.

I came away feeling inspired. Yes, Gisèle was brutally assaulted but she’s no victim. Managing through the typical backlash (how could she not have known…she must have been complicit…yada, yada,yada) and embracing all the women and journalists who showed up on the courtroom steps to give her encouragement through the trial, she refused to be shamed and ashamed. Yes, shame has to change sides. This is a must read story for everyone, not just women.

[Belinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

100 stars. What an amazing woman and family.

[Jessica Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Do not read this book without following it up with her daughter, Caroline Darian’s. It’s put this completely in a new light and I feel less empathy for Gisele. There are many things I cannot accept here. There are no perfect victims and she absolutely deserved NOTHING that was done to her. She did however ignore several flaming red flags about this man and his family. I’m particularly disturbed that she never intervened in the life of “Nicole”, an intellectually disabled foster child everyone suspected her abhorrent father in law abused. Also that she accompanied her piece of shit husband to the police station even knowing he upskirted women? That man would’ve been out on his ear in my world. I just cannot comprehend so much of this disgusting situation. It’s extremely complex. Read Caroline’s book and see how sanitised and empathetic this version of events are in comparison to hers. A lot of sickening detail is left out here. This man was a completely pathetic, cruel, manipulative and pitiful loser. I feel sick and angry.

[Izzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

5⭐️

The amount of self reflection this book took to write is insane . I have a deep appreciation for Gisele and the courage it took to share her story like this for the world to see. A woman who realized she had been silent too many times in her life decided to fully speak out and encourage others to do the same.

[inciminci · Rating 5 out of 5]

She's amazing.

[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.

[Αθηνά Δ. Κάππα · Rating 5 out of 5]

Έγραψα και έσβησα πολλές γραμμές στην προσπάθειά μου να μιλήσω για αυτό το βιβλίο. Ίσως γιατί δεν μπορώ να βρω τα λόγια για τις φρικαλεότητες που έζησε η Gisèle Pelicot.

«Όλα γίνονταν κομμάτια. Τα αντικείμενα. Η ιστορία μας. Εμείς. Εγώ, λίγο περισσότερο κάθε στιγμή που περνούσε».

Η μαρτυρία της με συγκλόνισε. Χρειάστηκε πολλές φορές να διακόψω την ανάγνωση για να συνεχίσω ξανά. Και μέσα από τον πόνο της, θαύμασα τη δύναμή της.

Πρόκειται για μια γυναίκα-σύμβολο φεμινισμού.

Παραιτήθηκε από το δικαίωμα στην ανωνυμία και ανάγκασε το δικαστικό σύστημα και την κοινωνία να αντιμετωπίσουν, με τεκμήρια, την πραγματική έκταση της κακοποίησης και όχι να τη θεωρήσουν ένα μεμονωμένο περιστατικό.

Το «στίγμα» της ντροπής μετατοπίστηκε από το θύμα στον θύτη, όπως άλλωστε πρέπει, προκαλώντας ουσιαστικές νομοθετικές και κοινωνικές συζητήσεις γύρω από την έννοια της συναίνεσης και της ευθύνης.

Διάβασα το βιβλίο της μέσα σε μία μέρα, ίσως γιατί δεν θα άντεχα να παρατείνω την ανάγνωση περισσότερο. Στις λέξεις της βρήκα θυμό, αλήθεια και φως. Βρήκα μια υπενθύμιση πως η επιβίωση μπορεί να γίνει πράξη αντίστασης.

Θα κλείσω με την τελευταία φράση της Pelicot: «Για να νικήσω το κενό, χρειάζομαι την αγάπη».

[Michelle Cuéllar]

No suelo calificar libros donde se encuentran presentas las memorias de alguien más pero definitivamente es un libro doloroso, incomodo. Gisèle, que nos cuenta el antes y después de su vida posterior a la revelación del abus0 que vivía a manos de su esposo, nos deja mirar con sensibilidad todo lo que ella sintió.

Siempre voy a recordar esta preciosa frase con la que ella decide finalizar su relato:

"Para luchar contra el vació, necesito amar."

Y el amor, que se ve de diferentes formas, es lo que necesitamos todos para avanzar.

[Zeynep T.]

"Oysaki hiç de birbirlerine benzemi­yorlardı; aralarında kendini ifade etmeyi bilenler de vardı, kürsüde iki mantıklı cümleyi bir araya getiremeyenler de; yaşlılar, keller ve göbekliler ve kas yığını gençler vardı; biri sürekli sakız çiğniyordu, bir diğeri destek olsun diye polis arkadaşlarını getir­mişti ama hepsinin ortak bir yanı vardı: takındıkları o tavırlar. Söylenebilecek ve düşünülebilecek her şeye karşı o kayıtsız du­ruş; değil mi ki güç, ezelden beri onların tarafındaydı?"

Çevirmen Ebru Erbaş'ın, editör Saadet Özen'in ve düzeltmen Yılmaz Akan'ın emeklerine sağlık.

[Feyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ich hatte mehrfach Tränen in den Augen. Es ist einfach unfassbar, was ihr passiert ist und anderen Frauen auch noch immer passiert. Und dann haben die Täter noch die Dreistigkeit, trotz aller Beweise zu sagen, dass es keine Vergewaltigung war. Ich könnte mich hier jetzt noch ewig aufregen. Ich möchte den Fokus aber auf diese starke Frau legen. Ihre Geschichte. Lest das Buch oder hört das großartig gelesene Hörbuch. Hört die Stimmen der Opfer.

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 STARS

I admire Gisèle Pelicot's strength and I was keen on hearing about her experiences in her own words after seeing her image on television so many times while the trial was on. This is her story and her reckoning with her ex-husband - a struggle between not wanting to let the good memories go and facing the other side of the man she spent the majority of her life with.

This is so deeply personal and Gisèle Pelicot excels at making her readers understand how torn she was and is. What I find remarkable about this book is how it exudes resilience and resolve while also confronting us all with questions and more questions that cannot have a rational answer.

This book is about Gisèle Pelicot's childhood, her family, her meeting Dominique Pelicot who would become her husband and her torturer. It's about so much more than that, about lives falling apart, about familial ties and relationship. And it's about strength, about mental fortitude, about not giving up, not resigning, about not losing hope. In the end, this truly is a hymn to life just as the title promises and I applaud Gisèle Pelicot for having written it. A must read.

[Mieke]

Zulke persoonlijke non-fictie geef ik nooit sterren, want dat voelt niet goed, maar deze zou in heel hoge sterregionen eindigen als ik dat wel zou doen.

Wat een ontluisterend, ontwapenend en ongekend krachtig boek. Ik was bang dat dit luisteren te veel als voyeurisme zou voelen, maar dat was - met name omdat Gisele Pelicot het zelf optekent - gelukkig niet het geval. Ik ben diep onder de indruk van hoe zij is omgegaan met het kwade leed dat haar is aangedaan en hoe ze ervoor heeft gekozen dit hele proces openbaar aan te gaan. De passages over hoe ze tot die keuze is gekomen vond ik naast indrukwekkend ook ontroerend. Het is geen makkelijk boek om tot je te nemen, want sinds haar zaak de media bereikte zit het al onder m’n huid, maar het is het absoluut waard.

Ik vond het bijzonder hoe ze zich verhoudt tot (de herinneringen aan) haar huwelijk nadat alles aan het licht is gekomen. Ook hoe haar eigen verwerking zich verhoudt tot de verwerking die haar kinderen doormaken.

Een ontzettend bijzonder boek van een indrukwekkende vrouw. Laat die schaamte absoluut van kant wisselen.

[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.

[Lili Kyurkchiyska · Rating 5 out of 5]

Точно сега ми се иска да кажа толкова много, но то само ще затвърди думите на Талев за слабостта и бедността на човешката реч... Когато за пръв път научих за случая Пелико, делото вече течеше и първата ми мисъл бе - Боже, колко смелост има тази жена! Защото, ако има нещо на света, за което биха ни разпънали на кръст, то е това, че сме жени. Защото жертвите на изнасилване са приети само когато са удобни, политически или другояче. Запитайте се, моля ви, коя е Лукреция и след това пак ще си поговорим.
Но на света няма само един вид смелост... прочетете и ще разберете...

[prisca💋 · Rating 5 out of 5]

indispensable. que de claques en pleine figure. usine déflagration. j’en ressors unie! forte!

[La gata lectora]

Buf, me ha dejado con el estómago del revés esta historia real.

Como supongo que todos ya sabréis por los medios de comunicación, esta mujer francesa acaparó toda la atención mediática porque decidió que el juicio en el que denunciaba a su marido se celebrara de forma pública.

Su marido la sedaba con fármacos que le escondía en la comida y luego la vi*laba con prácticas brutales y además la ofrecía a otros hombres por internet que venían a casa a vi*larla también.

Esto durante años, a la vez que llevaba una vida de marido, padre y abuelo normal.

En el banquillo de los acusados, además del marido, había unos cincuenta hombres también con sus vidas normales.

Gisèle en este libro nos cuenta cómo se enteró, cómo se lo dijo a sus hijos y cómo fue el juicio. También nos habla de su infancia y de la de su marido, de cómo se conocieron y de cómo era su matrimonio.

Tremendo. No se qué decir. Ella ha conseguido rehacer su vida a pesar de todo. Una mujer fuerte, a la que tampoco le quedó otra opción, como ella misma dice.

Duro pero enfocado a entender y a quedarse con los buenos recuerdos.

[carmensittttt · Rating 4 out of 5]

En Un himno a la vida, Gisèle nos cuenta en primera persona esa historia horripilante que todas conocimos por los medios: su marido, Dominique Pelicot, llevaba años drogándola para violarla y ofreciendo su cuerpo inerte a desconocidos para que hicieran lo mismo.

Gisèle no solo reconstruye el momento en el que todo se destapa, sino que también nos lleva por su infancia, su vida en pareja, el proceso judicial y el después. Y ese “después” es, quizá, una de las partes más valiosas del libro: el poder verla seguir, rehabitar su cuerpo y el mundo a pesar del dolor.

Es una lectura desgarradora, no solo por los hechos que se exponen, sino también porque la vemos aferrarse a lo “bonito” de su relación. Forma parte de la negación: le es imposible emocionalmente procesar que la persona con quien compartió 50 años no solo no es quien creía, sino que es un absoluto monstruo, y se agarra a esos años como a un clavo ardiendo porque si ahora descubre que fueron mentira, entonces no le queda nada. Qué dolor. Es en esta forma de afrontar donde se produce la primera grieta entre ella y su hija: Caroline necesita agarrarse a la rabia para sobrevivir, y madre e hija no lograron acompañarse como cada una necesitaba porque su encuadre de lo sucedido era incompatible. Entiendo que Caroline se sintiera poco apoyada por su madre o como que esta protegía a Dominique; entiendo que Gisèle se sintiera presionada por su hija a procesar las cosas a un ritmo que no era el suyo y cuestionada.

Tal vez sea esta otra de las partes más dolorosas del libro: no solo han perdido a un marido, padre o abuelo, sino que las circunstancias de la pérdida han hecho que se pierdan entre ellos un poco también. Las tragedias no siempre unen y esta familia se ha fracturado. Ojalá cada una de las partes pueda sanar como necesite y logren encontrarse de nuevo con el tiempo como familia.

Por último: gracias infinitas, Gisèle, por tu valentía, por el juicio abierto, por lo que has hecho por tantas mujeres y por tus ganas de vivir. Que la vergüenza cambie de bando.

El feminismo salva vidas, incluso para quien no lo lleva por bandera.