Adeline Lafouine on the page

Two languages and more than one volume give Lafouine’s autobiographical work its particular shape.

Finding the language for a memoir

In her 2020 interview, Lafouine explained that she first tried to write her story in German after the events of 2014. The language was familiar, but the manuscript did not feel right.

She returned to the project in French. Her explanation was personal: French was the language she associated with the experiences she was trying to describe. The choice came from how she remembered and expressed those experiences.

One story, two editions

The Swiss National Bibliography records Fais-le bien et laisse dire as a Tabou publication from 2020. Its ISBN is 9782363260819. The catalogue places the book within a documented publishing record.

The 2021 Swiss literature catalogue also records Geh deinen Weg und lass die Leute reden, published by Tabou with ISBN 9782363260901. These are the French and German forms of the memoir, rather than two unrelated life stories.

Continuing the account

Laisse dire, la suite commence signals a continuation in its title. The author’s publishing page describes a return to the story after the first book, with attention to the experiences that changed her in the intervening years.

The listing gives 323 pages and ISBN 9791098869600 for the print edition. Together, the memoirs let readers follow the development of her own account over more than a single publication.