When in 2021 Nathacha Appanah learned of the death of Chahinez Daoud, burned alive by her husband in broad daylight near Bordeaux, she had no other choice than to confront her own story of violence and that of her cousin Emma, killed by her husband in Mauritius in 2000.

She recounts her own terrible experience at the hands of a man, then endeavours to piece together the spiral in which Chahinez and Emma were caught. She seeks the deeper truth of these women, beyond time and secrets, through the words of the living and the whispers of the dead.

Balancing strength and humility, Nathacha Appanah takes a hard look at the unbearable reality of domestic violence.

‘In moving pages, Appanah considers the death of her coercive former partner and reasons with herself about how she should understand the memories of their life together. As the reader works through the questions alongside the author, the reflections on what writing can do and how it can do it are striking. While some passages make for harrowing reading, this is a poignant and beautiful book.’ TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT

‘La Nuit au coeur closely intertwines three stories of women who are victims of the furious violence of their husbands and partners, who have become their tormentors.’ LE MONDE

‘A literary tour de force’ LE POINT