Glamour: Your book was recently released in the US, what has it been like to share your story with an entirely new audience?
Caroline Darian: It’s amazing to me. Now this book is traveling all around the world. I think it’s useful, at least at the moment we’re living. I know that in the US it’s not that easy, when it comes to all of these DEI topics and so on. So I guess it’s useful for the audience and the American citizens, to better understand what’s happening over here in Europe.
Itâs a particularly poignant time for your story to be shared here. I was struck by how open and raw you are in describing the experience. Why did you decide to write about it?
Well, to me, talking, writing, and sharing is therapeutic. When I discovered the violence of the facts, all those facts that came out, it was kind of an emergency. I just needed to write it down to put a little bit of a distance also just to metabolize all of this stuff. I just wanted to be authentic and true to myself, because it’s a big part of me that I have lost in the end.
Was there any part of you that wanted to hold back in sharing the harder moments?
I just knew that I had to write, without any anticipation. To be honest with you, I said to myself, I’m going to save at least one woman on Earth. But I didn’t really know that this book would be a bestseller in France. I’m a simple woman. I’m working. I have a normal life. I’m trying to get a normal life. But I know that writing probably saved me.
You write about how you processed the events not just as a daughter, but how you helped your young son, Tom, through it as well. How is he doing now?
He is good, he is almost 11 now. I think he’s a little bit more mature than probably some other children his age. I think it’s a part of his family history, his legacy, but it’s not limited or restricted to this.
I really loved how you discussed figuring out as a mother how to help your child through such a trauma, and how the two of you worked together to find a therapist for him. It is a great example of parenting.
I think it came naturally. I mean, it was so difficult, and we knew that we needed some help because we are not therapists, and I was so shocked and impacted that I knew that I wasn’t able to help him.
What about the rest of your family? How have you been doing since the trial concluded in December?
I don’t want to lie. It is still really painful. It’s really difficult for us as childrenâ¦so our life, we are never the same.
You recently released a second book in France, covering the trial and its aftermath, right?