Caroline Darian's narrative explores the profound trauma of discovering her father's systematic abuse of her mother, revealed during a public trial. Her father's arrest uncovered decades of exploitation, highlighting the painful contrast between traumatic events and the ordinary moments that once defined her life. Throughout her ordeal, Darian emphasizes the importance of reclaiming narrative and the shame often surrounding victims of such crimes, aiming to challenge societal perceptions of blame in her mother's case. The trial, featuring numerous defendants, starkly illustrates the impact of familial betrayal and public scrutiny on survivors.
For Caroline, there would be no possibility of linking her previous life with what was about to happen. Only those who have had it torn from them know how precious the banal can be, she writes.
The police had arrested her father, Dominique Pelicot, a 68-year-old retiree. He was in prison. Officers had found tens of thousands of photographs... proving that, for at least 10 years, he had systematically drugged his wife.
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