Book Review - La Femme au Miroir

I have just finished a book that certainly did not leave me indifferent. This book is called La Femme au Miroir, has been written by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt and tells the story of 3 women living at very different times in History. 

Anne lives in Belgium just after the Renaissance, she doesn’t want to marry this man she barely knows, her mind is somewhere else: in nature, in life at its very core. People don’t understand her, they blame her, they admire her, but for her Truth is somewhere else. 

Hannah is living in Austria and is a contemporary of Sigmund Freud, she is going through married life with indifference and can only find excitement by collecting beautiful objects. On advice of her aunt, she will start hypnotherapy with a pupil of Freud to cure her obsessions and discover a completely different truth. 

Anny is a Hollywood star who seems to have it all:  she is talented and famous, wins millions and dates a handsome actor. She has everything to be happy, but when the spotlight switches off she can only face her personal life with drugs, alcohol and uncertainties. After a stupid accident in a nightclub, she ends up in hospital and meets a doctor who will change her life. Or could it be this old movie star that everybody has nicknamed Vuitton Bag?

All 3 of them are women misunderstood by their contemporaries. They all feel different and will each meet a few people who will open their eyes, protect and help them in becoming who they are meant to be.

I can’t quite choose which one was my favourite character to read. Through different stages of the book, I have felt very close to Anne, and through others to Hannah. And of course Anny is a women of our century with a bag of doubts that I understand fully. I like the way they all felt lost and that a powerful situation triggered a change. I like that they went ahead, felt rejected and yet knew they were doing the right thing. 

These characters, all linked the one to the other, have also touched me very deeply as feminists. They ignored the usual rules a woman had to follow, despite criticism, to live a life they would be proud of. The characters are full, very well described, so much I could totally imagine each one of them talking to me. The book is never boring, chapters of each story alternate so that slowly you can proudly start to understand the links between these 3 women. They all paint a beautiful portrait of life at their times and around the world. It’s a journey in time as well as a geographical one.

I just couldn’t leave the book down. It had been a long time I hadn’t stayed awake so late because I just COULD NOT stop.

In brief: HIGHLY recommended!

What are you reading these days? I'm curious to know, and happy to receive recommendations!