A bold and shocking confession returns to the events of December 2012. Édouard Louis was raped and nearly murdered by a man he met on his way home from a Christmas dinner and subsequently invited to his home. To cope with post-traumatic stress disorder and rediscover himself, he returned to his hometown to confront the family and past he wanted to leave behind forever. The autobiographical novel can be read as an inverted detective story, earning comparisons to Truman Capote's famous work In Cold Blood, with the key difference being the perspective of the victim. Louis navigates between the past and the present, combining the objectivity of a police report with the sincerity of a diary. He manages to shed light on the everyday racism and homophobia of French society while also leaving room for reflections on aggression and how much the portrayal of a single real event can differ. He has confirmed that he is an exceptional writer of his generation.
