First published in France in 2012; published in translation by Other Press on May 23, 2017

Michèle lives in fear, sometimes in a state of panic. She believes in signs and portents that she sees everywhere. She receives anonymous texts that might be perceived as threatening, and she assumes they came from her rapist. Michèle treats the rape as a fact of life, in much the same way as she regards less significant events in her life.

The forces that shaped Michèle quickly become apparent. Michèle’s father has served thirty years in prison for a monstrous crime that occurred during Michèle's childhood. Her mother is paying young men for sex. Michèle isn’t pleased that her mother wants her to visit and forgive her father.

Michèle’s job is to evaluate screenplays. She doesn’t like Richard’s, a subject she danced around during the years they were married. Michèle left Richard before he learned about her affair with Robert, husband of her best friend Anna. Her son Vincent has been rude to her ever since the divorce. Vincent’s girlfriend Josie is pregnant by another man.

All of this we piece together in the first thirty pages of a novel that is largely based on Michèle’s fragmented thoughts. She is surprised when a rivalry develops between Richard and her married neighbor Patrick, with whom she’s thinking of having an affair, although she’s also thinking of ending her affair with Robert. As the novel moves forward, Michèle makes some decisions, defers others, and allows some decisions to be made for her. In other words, her life proceeds as lives do, although hers is more dramatic than most.

Michèle is a woman of moods. She wants to sleep with Patrick and then she doesn’t and then she does and so on. She hates her mother and then loves her and then hates her and so son. Sometimes she thinks she should change her ways; other time she looks forward to having more “unusual adventures” (i.e., sleeping with married men). Eventually (and I write this as a warning to sensitive readers) she indulges in rape fantasies that become realities.

There were several times when I thought (as I suspect many readers will), “Why is she doing this?” But it’s clear that Michèle doesn’t always know why she behaves as she does. The closest she comes to an answer is, “sometimes people would do just about anything to feel a tiny bit better.” And “just about anything” can include behavior that might seem rewarding in the moment even if, viewed later with a more rational mind, the behavior is self-destructive. As she tells her cat, “It’s a little complicated to explain,” probably because we can’t explain what we don’t understand.

To her credit, even when the circumstances of her life have victimized her, Michèle does not play the role of victim. She uses adversity to learn truths about herself, not all of which are pleasant. She moves forward, and whether those moves are healthy or not, they are preferable to wallowing in self-pity. Michèle might not be an exemplary person, but she isn't a bad person. Her character is a reminder that people respond to difficult childhoods in many different ways. It would be easy to judge Michèle, but she doesn’t deserve to be judged. All of that makes her a strong literary character.

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I was attracted to this after spotting the film made from it a while ago (I had not seen the film but liked its theme) - and the novel itself is elegant and engaging like crazy. It reverses how a woman might be expected to feel after violence done to her - she is not a victim. And her maturity in the face of what is really common experience in big and small ways is intriguing.

One of the BEST books I've read in a long time. It was well written, clever, intense, and so thought-provoking. I would absolutely recommend ELLE to everyone - its a must-read!!

This is one hell of a twisted novel! I loved the eroitc and pshycho-thriller tones that it had. At times my skin was crawling and one night while reading it I was so entranced I became a little paranoid that I was being watched. Defintely worth it!

Originally called Oh... by Philippe Djian, this psycho-sexual thriller follows the aftermath of a rape. Michele is raped, laying on her floor. She gets up, clean up the mess and proceeds through her life.

Michele is not necessarily a likeable character. In fact, some will find her cold, heartless and...maybe a psychopath herself.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book.

I saw the movie, but wanted to read the book, because the book is always better. I was not disappointed. The writing gives a deeper view into the psyche of the main character that you can't see on screen. I simply couldn't put the book down. I loved the writing. Elle terrifies me, the way she thinks, the way she acts as a mother, the way she makes decisions. You can see the connection to her father. The novel overall is full of dark and disturbing characters and I love them all.

This is a story of many facets. Dark and brooding, mysterious and psychological are just a few words I would use to describe it.
Difficult and unsettling at times but a rewarding read. The reader really knows Michele and the strength she shows despite the ordeals she is put through.
A enjoyable, compulsive read.

It's hard to describe the genre of this book, it is not completely a mystery, but there is a lot of psychological violence. Michèle is a successful woman with her own company, who supports her mother, her grown son and his girlfriend, pregnant by another man. Her father has been in prison for decades after murdering a group of children. She may be a psychopath herself, as she doesn't seem to have any strong feelings for anyone. Her family shamelessly takes advantage of her, her ex-husband is seeing another, younger, woman, and Michèle has just been raped. Now, most women would probably be distressed at such a violation, but not Michèle. This is just a week in her life. But if saying all this makes it sound like a boring read, it's quite the opposite. This is a complex, rich novel that almost reads as a stream-of-consciousness narrative. Michèle is not likable at all, but she is real and this novel is like being inside her head. It's a hard book to read, but rewarding and heart-breaking.

Like most people, I came to this after seeing the shocking, but excellent film version. Although the only other book by Dijan I've read was also due to it's film version (37°2 le matin, AKA Betty Blue), he is a novelist whose works continue to intrigue and astonish. This somewhat (pardon the expression), fleshes out the movie in important details, and makes somewhat more explicit what is only hinted at in the film. Well worth reading for the comparison. Thanx to Netgalley for the ARC.

I really enjoyed the film Elle and I was desperate to read the book it's based on, I don't read french though so it made me happy when I saw it was being published in English. The book does not disappoint, just like the film it presents a difficult story that elicits many feelings, some compassionate and some angry. Excellently written and from what I can tell very well translated. Great for fiction readers that like something a bit different and controversial.

Trying almost too hard to be controversial, this ends up being sexually grubby and unbelievable. That a woman who has been raped can then fall into consensual forced-sex games with her erstwhile rapist is a potentially fraught and interesting scenario - but this isn't the book to tackle it. There are too many distractions in this dysfunctional family to give much weight to the sexual theme and it's all treated in a cursory, detached way. Dare I suggest that a female writer might have given this a very different treatment? A brooding screenplay and charismatic actors might do much to retrieve this rather thin book as an art-house film.