The events of November 13th 2015 are still pretty fresh for most of us. The horrific attacks on the city of Paris were very close to home, innocent people enjoying nights out with friends brutally killed by terrorists.
One of the most powerful statements to come from this was a Facebook post by Antoine Leiris, a letter to his wife Hélène’s killers, this book is Antoine’s diary of the weeks following the attack.
It’s a book that simply needs to be read.
It’s unimaginable how quickly life can change so dramatically in one evening, and harder still to think how anyone would deal with such an event. Hearing Antoine’s immediate reaction and thoughts to these events is very moving, if hard to read.
His meeting up with the friend who accompanied his wife out that evening, and survived, was an event full of awkwardness that hadn’t even occurred to me, the pair talking “trying to pretend everything had not collapsed”.
Also Antoine’s writing about the frustration of all the people wanting to help him, when all he wants is to be left alone with his son, and the various conversation starters and responses he’d used.
It’s tough going, especially Antoine describing telling his 17 month old son that his Mummy wasn’t coming home, but it is definitely a must read.