« Je marche mieux quand ma main serre la tienne »
(Things are better when I hold your hand)

Igor is a normal teenager, except that he has tried to commit suicide and is now in hospital to learn to control his impulses and above all to learn to love life.

It is this about these struggles and their success in fighting the illness that the "Adocrivains" (The Young Writers) talked and then wrote over a period of several months. Certainly in places the work reflects my personal style and some of the expressions used have been edited but the book is the direct product of the imaginations of these Young Writers reflecting their own lives.

This disturbing work is of such a poignant beauty and conveys so much hope that it will certainly help other young people who are struggling to find their own spirits and thus their own ‘joie de vivre’.

The title is taken from the last stanza of a poem by Alfred de Musset dedicated to his brother on his return from Italy:

My friend, don't go so far away again.
I really need some help
Whatever is happening to me.
I don't know where my life is leading
But I feel better when I take your hand.

Origin of the project

During 2003 I directed a writers’ workshop for young people being treated at the UHEA (Children and Adolescent Department) of the Charcot Hopital at Caudan in the Morbihan. All the young people there have suffered extremely painful experiences during their lives and the child psychiatry team led by Doctor Philippe Yuang hoped that this workshop would help them.

The results were well beyond their expectations: after a few exploratory sessions the young people themselves came up with the idea to write a book about a young man, just like them, who goes into hospital for treatment. It was in this way that they hoped to show their world of suffering and desperation but also their desire to get better. The story has a happy ending, it is an anthem for life.

At the outset it was not intended to publish this work. However several psychologists who read it strongly encouraged me to make it more widely available, in the strong belief that it would be an enormous help to other young people struggling to find their way in life and thus happiness. After getting the agreement of the Adocrivains, the Charcot Hospital authorised the publication.

Aleas-Editeur, with whom I have worked closely for several years has agreed to publish the work for which I am most grateful.

The copyright rests with the Charcot Hospital and any proceeds will help to finance further workshops for young people suffering in this way.

What they say about it...

Des belles rencontres germent les belles histoires. Celle de Margot Bruyère et des "Adocrivains" de l'hôpital Charcot a donné naissance à un livre "Je marche mieux quand ma main serre la tienne" ou comment mettre des mots sur les maux. La plume qui soigne... Cachée derrière les écrits, perce l'envie de croire à la victoire sur la maladie. C'est un hymne à la vie.
Le Télégramme, éditions Bretagne, juillet 2007

Je marche mieux quand ma main serre la tienne

Publisher: Aléas
Year: 2007
ISBN: 978-2-84301-173-6
86 pages
Price: 12 €

Livre disponible dans toutes les bonnes librairies, sur le site de l'éditeur (www.aleas.fr) et sur...