Chloé Delaume completely won us over with her previous novel, The Synthetic Heart, about the ups and downs of the heterosexual romantic relationships of a woman in her fifties. A hilarious, caustic and feminist look at everyone’s expectations and disappointments, which earned its author the Medici Prize in 2020.

She returns to us with Poor Madwoman, an autobiographical novel in which the narrator takes advantage of a train journey to reflect on a complex and doomed relationship with a gay man.

Delaume has a tragic life story. She witnessed the murder of her mother by her father, an experience from which one does not emerge unscathed, as one suspects. She also experienced mental health issues and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Delving once again into the theme of romantic relationships, this time she reflects on them in the light of her childhood wounds. It is often said that in life, we repair or we repeat. Which camp does Clotilde, the narrator, find herself in? Has she freed herself from her ghosts or has she reproduced the familiar, but destructive patterns in this dependent relationship where she is clearly not in control? It’s never easy…

We find the same mastery of writing and the same lucid intelligence in this novel as in the previous one, even if the humor and lightness are less present. As for Clotilde, she unfortunately fails to move us. Damage.