Elle — Philippe Djian

Elle is a psychological thriller that recounts thirty days in the life of its heroine Michèle -- powerfully portrayed by Isabelle Huppert in Paul Verhoeven's award-winning film -- where memory, sex, and death collide on every page.

A few weeks before Christmas, Michèle picks herself up from her living room floor. She has been raped. She has almost no recollection of her attacker but she senses his presence -- he is never far away -- and this uncanny feeling triggers a whirlwind of events and memories. She begins to fear she is losing her grip on a life already complicated by a demanding job, an ex-husband with a new girlfriend, a jealous lover, and a son trapped in a relationship with his girlfriend pregnant by another man.

Hardened by the consequences of her father's violent past, Michèle -- nearing fifty, fiercely independent and unsentimental -- refuses to be reduced to a victim. When her rapist begins taunting her with messages, she takes measures to protect herself -- until she discovers his identity.

Through the bitingly sarcastic and unflinchingly realist voice of its heroine, Elle paints a striking portrait of one woman's experience that challenges our notions of masculinity and femininity, weakness and strength.