Edouard Louis explains in conclusion that he hadn’t initially intended to write this book; he was actually working on a book about his elder brother. However, certain events, and even a request from his mother, prompted him to embark on the writing of this short narrative, which, in his own words, brought him the most joy in literature.
In a sense, it serves as a continuation of his previous work, “Combats.” “Monique S’évade” begins with Monique contacting her son Édouard and disclosing her partner’s abusive behavior. Édouard, who is in Athens at the time, is deeply troubled by her distress, but offers his vacant apartment as a refuge. The text chronicles the step-by-step process of organizing her “escape”: waiting until morning, gathering a few belongings, and arranging for Édouard’s friend Didier (Eribon, a well-known intellectual figure) to meet her at her son’s flat to let her in.
Édouard and his mother then communicate daily, as he is confined to Athens for a writing residency, and they plan her future life. The text is interspersed with brief reflections on their past life: his mother’s past aggression, the turmoil surrounding the publication of Louis’s first book, and her subsequent reaction and wounds. As detailed in “Combats et Métamorphoses,” she had previously summoned the courage to leave Louis’s father a few years prior, only to end up with a seemingly amiable yet violent partner, leading to a loss of autonomy in Paris. She expresses a desire not to revert to her previous “nasty” behavior with Louis’s father.
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