Nothing Holds Back the Night

November 4, 2013
De Vigan’s latest novel (following Underground Time) is a fervent, autobiographical examination of the volatile life of her mother, Lucile, who committed suicide in 2008. “Every day that passes I see how difficult it is to write about my mother, to define her in words, how much her voice is missing.” Writing about Lucile after her suicide is a daunting task, but De Vigan feels compelled to tackle it, hoping to identify the catalyst of her mother’s enduring torment. Lucile rises up from the page, aided by testimony from relatives, recordings, photographs, and her daughter’s memories. Born into a large clan, Lucile’s beauty is so arresting that, as a child, she becomes a model. Yet she encounters devastating loss at a young age with the death of one of her brothers, Antonin, leading to a later stint in a psychiatric hospital. Lucile becomes pregnant with Delphine at age 18, marries the father, Gabriel, and attempts to be a conventional mother. At age 26, however, she divorces Gabriel and embraces a peripatetic existence. As De Vigan contemplates her mother’s troubled life, she overcomes her trepidation and finds the fortitude to continue writing, making for a striking personal journey.