This amazing novel titled Adele (French: Dans le jardin de l’ogre) by Leila Slimani is a contemporary French literary work which is full of controversy because it raises the theme of female eroticism. Many people don’t like this novel. They think that this novel is just a regular adult novel that only contains many pornographic and vulgar elements.
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However, if we take another point of view, this novel is more of a unique novel. It discusses female sexuality which is often considered as taboo. It was written by a female writer using a woman’s narrative–something that rarely happens in the context of French literature. Usually, the narratives of women as the main characters are written by male authors.
The main character in this novel is Adele, an ethnic Moroccan woman who marries a bourgeois man. In her daily life as a working woman, living in Paris, Adele is suffering because she has to pretend to live in comfort while she is tormented by her sexual addiction. She has a very strong sexual addiction, but she always runs away from it and keeps herself distracted from work.
One day, on her way to the office, Adele looked at her secret white phone and saw the name ‘Adam’ on her contacts. Only by looking at Adam’s name, she felt excited and little bit horny. She got off the train and went to Adam’s house and had sex with him.
Her husband, Richard, was a doctor, who had given Adele a job as a journalist. In the early days of working, Adele was so excited about her job. Since she had sex with her boss, she became bored and uncomfortable at work. She stayed at her job because it gave her freedom of mobility and space to hangout and find another guy to sleep with. She found it more enjoyable for her than being a housewife and taking care of her son, Lucien.
Marital Dysfunction
Adele and Richard took Lucien to the beach on a family vacation. Richard had a dream of moving to the countryside and having another child, but Adele didn’t want it.
Adele disagreed with that idea because she didn’t like having sex with Richard. She couldn’t feel anything when she had sex with him. And sex wasn’t very important to Richard. He never thought about it nor took it seriously.
Back in Paris, Adele returned home and promised to change this time. She tried to concentrate at work, be a good wife and a good mother. Suddenly, a text from a man she met in Madrid popped out on her secret white phone, saying that he wanted to see her again. Adele deleted the message. Adele went to a dinner party at the house of her husband’s colleague, Xavier, and his wife, Sophie. She hooked up with Xavier, but she immediately stopped because she felt guilty.
Shortly after the dinner, Adele went to the countryside with Richard to see his family. They surveyed some houses for them to buy. In a Christmas party, Richard gave Adele a brooch as a Christmas present. The brooch that Ricard gave her made Adele felt old and deprived of freedom. Suddenly, during that time, Xavier called and texted Adele, saying that he wanted to meet Adele.
Adele tried to keep her day going as usual, but she kept imagining how Xavier grabbed her body. The next day, she picked up Lucien from school early and brought him home as soon as possible. That way Adele could get ready to meet Xavier.
She met Xavier at a hotel and they had sex. Suddenly, Adele got a call from the hospital, saying that Richard had a motorcycle accident. She rushed to the hospital to see Richard. When she arrived at the hospital, the doctor said that Richard would need to have a surgery on his leg and stay in the hospital for a week. This accident made Adele very depressed. She felt guilty for her affair with Xavier, but at the same time, she also hated being with her husband because she had to be with Richard all the time and lost her freedom.
Adele didn’t have time for taking care of his son. Adele sent Lucien to live with her grandparents.
Adele lost her job because she never did her job properly. She often came to the office with a messy appearance because she was too busy having sex with men that she met carelessly.
Adele went home where she had already ordered cocaine and two male prostitutes. Adele lost consciousness and they had rough sex. In the morning, Adele realized she had been robbed.
Adele borrowed money and car from her friend to pick up Richard from the hospital. At home, Adele took care of Richard and asked for his permission to go to the supermarket to buy his needs. Instead of going to the supermarket, Adel went to a prostitution place where an old man called her ’embarrassing slut’ because he saw her wearing a wedding ring. After that, Adele didn’t come home nor went to the supermarket. Instead, she went on a dinner with Xavier, had sex for the last time, and ended their affair because she was bored.
Revenge
Sophie found Xavier’s and read Adele’s texts. She rushed to Richard and told him when Adele wasn’t home. Richard told Sophie to go away and forget what she had just read in the message.
Richard found Adele’s white phone. He learned everything about Adele’s affair with all the men who had slept with her. Richard took advantage of it. He threatened to divorce Adele and take custody of Lucien if she didn’t agree with his plan. Of course, Adele obeyed Richard’s wishes, but Richard still felt sick and disgusted when he saw Adele.
Adele, Richard, and their son Lucien later moved out from Paris to live in the countryside. Richard monitored all of Adele’s behaviors. He considered Adele a sick individual. He saw himself as a doctor who cured Adele of her addiction.
Richard took a revenge. When Richard was practicing at his new clinic, he had sex with a nurse. He locked Adele so she couldn’t leave the house. Adele became more and more depressed because she lost her freedom.
The Ending
Adele’s father died. Richard couldn’t accompany Adele to go to her father’s funeral, so Adele went there alone.
At her father’s funeral, she met her mother. They had a big fight. At that moment, Adele recalled her past, especially the ones related to her sexuality which eventually led her to sex addiction.
Frustrated by the fight, Adele went to a bar and got drunk. She danced with a man she didn’t know and had sex with him. Adele never returned home to Richard and her son.
Other readings on sexuality:
This novel tells how important it is to be aware of women’s sexuality. In society, women’s sexuality is very taboo to talk about. Women are constructed in such a way as to become a person who will always obey their husband under the institution of marriage. Adele has a very high sexual desire, but her husband considers sex unimportant.
Adele tries to explain Richard her desire, an uncontrollable passion, a feeling of misery when those desires are not fulfilled. (page 184-185)
Adele has affairs with other men as an effort to fight the social construction that is imposed on her. As a result, she faces severe consequences for showing her sexuality that is considered out of the norms. Apparently, this is also the reason as to why this novel causes some controversies.
Editor: Emma Amelia
