How to prove your innocence when you are convinced that you have not committed any fault, but that the others have condemned you in advance? Two innocentsthe new novel by Frenchwoman Alice Ferney, immerses us in a human drama of poignant intensity – and all the more disturbing because it is inspired by a true story.
It is a revolting novel. Who stirs. Who takes the guts as it is impossible to remain impassive in the face of the fate reserved for this woman who finds herself a victim of her kindness, her sincerity – some would even say her naivety.
“Everything I say is true; there is absolutely nothing invented. When it was told to me, the story was not over at all, so I followed it and had continuous news of what was happening, ”explains Alice Ferney, joined by videoconference in Paris.
Claire, the main character, is a teacher in an institution for young people living with disabilities. In September 2018, she welcomed a new student, Gabriel. Very quickly, the situation took a dangerous turn. And for the first time, the writer confides that she chose to write in the present tense, “so that the reader is on the same level as the case”.
To fully understand the context of the affair, it is necessary to know that at the time when Claire’s descent into hell is taking place, France is in the midst of a scandal surrounding the affair of Cardinal Barbarin, accused of not having denounced the sexual assaults committed by a priest; precisely one year after the birth of the #balancetonporc movement (the French counterpart of #moiaussi). In this climate, “any affectionate gesture becomes suspect”, writes Alice Ferney in her novel.
At all times, however, the writer was careful to spare the various parties.
I never write to judge or to criticize, or to tear to pieces; I always write to understand how things happened. Everyone has their reasons and everyone is right in their reasons.
Alice Ferney
“I said to myself: “I have to tell this story by being as absent as possible and I will make the reader witness to what is happening.” The reader will enter the classroom, he will see how the course is going. Suddenly he will see that there is an accusation and I will tell him everything that is happening and how it is interpreted. And at the end, I will say to him: “What do you think?” »
‘Presumed guilt’
In this drama resembling a Greek tragedy, which essentially revolves around a trio of women – the teacher, the pupil’s mother and the headmistress of the school – and which leads us to reflect on the place of ition in education, there is at the source a misunderstanding around words, a diversion of the meaning of words which leads to “presumed guilt”, believes Alice Ferney.
“Suspicion already destroys innocence; the other looks at you as a culprit. And there, everyone gears up, everyone follows the mother [de Gabriel]. Then, a first examining magistrate “who is doing her job badly” precipitates the sequence of events.
Justice is human, and like everything human, it is imperfect. One would hope that the innocence is visible, but it is not.
Alice Ferney
Alice Ferney also says she is very sensitive to injustice, and even more at this time when justice is restored. Is his role as a writer, then, in a way, to give a voice to those who don’t have one – and in the specific case of Two innocentsto the one who could not be heard?
“I really like this idea. Faulkner said it, many authors have said it… Writing is all the same something extraordinary; it’s both an act of power and power because it’s still the one who tells the story who owns it, who imposes his vision. That’s why, moreover, it can be violent when you tell someone else’s story. It was the famous phrase of Georges Bataille: ‟Writing the story of another is a transgression that must be assumed”, she concludes.
Two innocents
Alice Ferney
South Acts
320 pages