Author of two books at 19, Louis Lefèvre uses words to heal

At only 19 years old, the young man from Le Mans, Louis Lefèvre, already stands out as an accomplished author, with two books to his credit: the first “Un mental hospital” which he published at the age of 17 and “Strength and Courage” released at the end of 2023 His stories, full of emotion and inspiration, have touched the hearts of thousands of readers.

“I wanted to free myself psychologically and put on paper everything I had deep inside me.” In his first book “A Hospital Mind”, Louis recounts his own fight against kidney cancer diagnosed when he was 4 years old before a relapse at 8 years old.

The young boy at the time had consulted psychologists and confided in his family, but nothing relieved him.

Louis then uses the pen to put words to his story, at the age of 13, he begins his first writings. “In this book, these are really my memories even if they don’t necessarily reflect reality.” He had to put everything in the right direction and he sometimes tells it with humor.

For example, “I tell from the first pages how I learned that I had kidney cancer, I tell it with irony even though it was one of the moments when I suffered the most and when my mother was the most afraid of lose myself.”

For proofreading, he gets help from his second-year French teacher, Silvère Goubille, “He helped me reread each chapter and also told me when it was really bad.”

This book was only to be for him, but the young author finally decided to self-publish it with the encouragement of his teacher who prefaced the work.

“I started by ordering 50 copies, then 500, then 5,000 and now it’s orders of 1,000 or 2,000. Today, I’m at 15,000 sold.” Her work has been praised by figures such as François Hollande, Nicolas Sarkozy and Valérie Perrin, the second most read author in France, who praised the strength of her story.

In his second book, “Strength and Courage”, Louis gives voice to other anonymous heroes, sharing their stories and their struggles. “I wanted to allow these people to be able to free themselves as I did. They all experienced something powerful.”

Through these stories, the 19-year-old from Le Mans offers a platform to those who have experienced the unspeakable.

Some have lost a daughter with a disability, others are Bataclan survivors or even become homeless overnight.

Louis Lefèvre

Author of “Strength and Courage”

Despite his literary success, Louis does not wish to make it his profession. “I want to keep writing as a passion. What I prefer are numbers.” An accounting student, he wants to become a chartered accountant, but is still preparing his third book.

►Louis’ Instagram: @lefevre.auteur

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