On November 13th, 2015, Hélène Leiris, wife of Antoine, mother of 17-month old Melvil, went to the Bataclan Theatre, Paris. She, along with 88 others, never returned home. Three days later, Antoine wrote an open letter on Facebook to Hélène’s killers, stating: “You will not have my hate.” The short post was instantly shared thousands of times all around the world. His autobiography traces the days following Hélène’s death, the frantic search for her among Paris’s hospitals, her funeral, and the way life goes on even when you wish it didn’t.
With a beautiful sadness, a heartbreaking determination to do his best for his son and his enduring love for Hélène, Antoine recounts the everyday activities that form a counterpoint to the aching loss they both live with now. This book is a love song to Hélène, a promise to Melvil and a resolution not to be defeated by chaos and barbarity. It is a stunning mission statement; ‘There are only two of us – my son and myself – but we are stronger than all the armies of the world’.
