Four years after her shocking story, "La Consolation", in which she revealed that she had been raped at 13 by a fashion photographer (she later designated David Hamilton), host Flavie Flament returned to writing with a very beautiful romance novel, "L'Etreinte".
Meeting with a luminous woman in love with words.
Why resume writing four years after "La Consolation"?
FLAVIE FLAMENT.
Because the inspiration was there.
I had been revolving around this subject for two, three years, I wondered about this need for an embrace that is so strong with me.
For me, to touch is to recognize, it is to tell the other that you exist.
A hug is a consolation.
When the confinement fell and I was deprived of a hug, when I was unable to hug the people I loved, this novel imposed itself on me.
This period was an incredible source of inspiration.
Did you really write it during lockdown?
It took me five years for “La Consolation”, it took me two months for “L'Etreinte”.
It was a very easy, very virtuous, very pleasant birth.
I had my radio show on RTL and wrote every day from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.
It's a very organic, very bright book.
I wanted to write about the journey of love, seduction, about dented characters in search of the absolute like my heroine Emma who will be transported by love.
Is there a lot of you in this novel?
Yes, but that's not my story.
This is not a sequel to “La Consolation”, nor a new volume in my life.
It is a novel, a love story that inspired me by the situation in which I was.
Like many writers, I tackle topics to which I am particularly sensitive and Emma's flaws are familiar to me.
It is true that it has a particular flavor.
It is the book of joy, love, freedom.
It is surely also the book of resilience and reconstruction.
How are you ?
I am very well.
I don't think I've ever been happier in my life.
It has now been over ten years since I have walked this path of healing.
“The Consolation” saved me because I was truly with the world.
He saved me from posture, from camouflage.
I had promised myself to publicly name the man who caused me so much harm and to commit myself to the extension of the limitation period.
I accomplished my mission, I was in action, and yes, it changed my life.
But if what happened four years ago has changed my existence, in any case my life must be reduced to what I have lived.
I left it and I am now in a future, in joy, in the sun.
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We suspected that the silent voices would be heard.
It is a wave that began with “La Consolation” in 2016, and which has continued to grow and which touches everyone.
After me there was the writer Vanessa Springora, the skater Sarah Abitbol and many others, most recently in the music world.
They have been at the center of the news.
What is happening is dizzying, this world which was based on silence is collapsing and a new one has to be rebuilt.
There is still a lot to do, it will take time.
What is very positive is that with the liberation of speech, there has been a movement of awareness.
Today, the young generation is an informed generation which, I hope, will preserve the poetry of the romantic encounter.
Have you always liked to write?
As far back as I can remember, yes.
When I was 18, I signed my first novel but I couldn't find a publisher.
I really think words saved me.
My eldest son pointed out to me how far I had come thanks to my books.
The first one was called "Les Chardons", it stung, it was painful, it spoke of domestic violence.
Then there was “La Consolation”, on the rape of which I was a victim as a child about which I finally dared to speak.
And today, there is “L'Etreinte”, a luminous book.
Why has the word lover you are made her entire career on TV and radio?
Life has decided for me too long.
I was turned away from what I wanted to do very early on.
I found myself propelled in front of cameras at 16, I got intoxicated with lights, glitter, notoriety and one day I decided to take back possession of my life.
Twelve years ago, I made a promise to myself not to miss out on my life and to fulfill myself in what was most fulfilling for me.
I decided to listen to myself.
I left TF1 and published “Les Chardons” in 2011. I rewrote my life and now I have the life I wanted, a life populated by words and writing.
And at RTL, I am the happiest radio host.
I talk about things that are close to my heart, I explore people and I have total freedom.
Do you have other book projects?
Of course !
I will write a new album for the children.
I kept a scoundrel mind and my book will be about children who stink feet.
And I have other novel projects!
Bright rebirth in full confinement
Her name is Emma and life has not spared her.
Raped as a child, this mother of two grown children, battered by life, stands up despite her trauma.
But one day, a meeting will turn his life upside down.
His name is Augustin, he makes her laugh.
He is charming and pleases her enormously.
But we are a few days before confinement ...
How to build a new romantic relationship when you can no longer see, touch or hug each other?
How to find happiness when you have suffered so much?
Carried with a very pretty feather, Flavie Flament offers us a luminous love story that is difficult to let go once started.
A strong and sensitive text on the birth of love and the fullness it brings.
EDITOR'S RATING: 4/5
“L'Etreinte”,
by Flavie Flament, Editions JC Lattès, 176 p., 18.90 euros.
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