French Literature Reviews - 2026
B. Lozerec'h, Au diable Pauvert
Writers: Biography, Letters and Memoirs
Brigitte Lozerec'h
Au diable Pauvert
Gallimard
Published: 03-06-2021
240 p. — ISBN: 9782072931314
Brigitte Lozerec'h chronicles her forty-year journey of a long and tumultuous romantic companionship with Jean-Jacques Pauvert, a singular figure in French publishing, of whom she would be the last wife.
At the age of twenty, she first heard of this publisher who had defended Albertine Sarrazin, harshly judged by the press for having prostituted herself at sixteen after escaping from prison. "If I, too, write about the ugliness of childhood and adolescence inflicted by my older brother and cousins," Brigitte Lozerec'h thought to herself, "this publisher will protect me...". It would take her over a decade to unearth her torments, published in 1982 under the title *L'Intérimaire*, which became a major bestseller.
Over the years, she discovered in the publisher of the Marquis de Sade an attentive, modest man with multiple facets concealing darker ones. She met several celebrities who revealed to her that triumphs can mask profound solitude.
After a period of separation, the lovers reunited: the seducer had aged, and Brigitte settled near him on the Riviera. They shared a simple life in the harmony of hours spent reading by the Mediterranean, alongside forestry work in the hills overlooking the house.
Jean-Jacques Pauvert occupies a distinct position in the history of French publishing, widely recognized for his courage in championing controversial literature and defending authors facing severe public censure. Throughout the twentieth century, independent publishing houses in France frequently served as crucial platforms for works challenging established moral boundaries and institutional norms. The trajectory of such publishing figures often intersected with complex personal dynamics, where the defense of marginalized voices and transgressive texts existed alongside private lives marked by distinct vulnerabilities and contradictions. Readers interested in the history of French publishing and twentieth-century literary memoirs may find this work a relevant exploration of these dynamics.