We don't know why she decided to live away from men. Or why she chose to live in the woods. We won't know. But we have a furious desire to follow this young woman, to know how far she will go, even to protect her.
In his latest novel, Cyril Herry takes us once again to the forest. He takes us there following a “woman from the woods”. A woman who chose to live on the fringes of human society. On the edge of the village, on the edge of these people who have invited friends for an aperitif and from whom she is going to steal a jar of pâté and a bottle of wine… On the edge, but not very far.
Not very far from the hollow tree in which her mother leaves her little things, an item of clothing, letters, candles, a book… Not very far from the uninhabited houses in which she sometimes finds shelter, takes a bath, a book that she will bring back later, something to eat. Not very far from these humans who left this car in the woods which temporarily serves as his den.
The woods, in Cyril Herry's novels, are a universe. The forest is in almost all his books, more or less present. It is a shelter where we can take refuge. A source of life and food. A hiding place. A friend for those who know the place well. Sometimes, she appears as a character, just like humans.
In Diogenes' daughtershe is there too. This latest novel by Cyril Herry makes us question, like the previous ones, about our relationship with nature and humans. On the civilized and the savage. On social constraint and freedom.
The story of Clara, who lived for 14 years in the woods of the Cévennes
Cyril Herry was inspired, for Diogenes' daughterthe story of a woman in her thirties, arrested in October 2023 after having lived 14 years in the Cévennes forest. Supported by her mother and by part of the population who dropped off food for her, she entered houses to eat or find clothes.
That's how she got caught, in the act of trespassing, after being filmed by a surveillance camera installed by an annoyed owner. Declared criminally irresponsible, the young woman was placed in a psychiatric care unit in Lozère.
Will it be the same for the heroine of Diogenes' Daughter? You have 80 pages left to find out.
The book. Diogenes' daughter, by Cyril Herry, In8 editions, 80 pages, €8.90.
Nathalie Goursaud
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