I’ll Never Call Him Dad Again

THE BOOK THAT TELLS THE FIRST-HAND STORY OF THE GISÈLE PELICOT TRIAL AND GIVES A VOICE TO WOMEN WHO HAVE BEEN SILENCED

The trial of Dominique Pelicot has captured the world’s attention. Behind Pelicot’s unthinkable crimes are a mother, Gisèle Pelicot, and her daughter, Caroline Darian, who were forced to rebuild their lives.

This is their story.

In November 2020, Caroline Darian received a call from the police. Her father was in custody. The seizure of his computer equipment revealed the unimaginable: since 2013, he had drugged his wife before handing her over, in a state of unconsciousness, to dozens of men from all ages and stages of life.

With exceptional courage, Darian recounts the earth-shattering discovery that a loved one, her own father, is capable of the worst. But more importantly, she shares the remarkable story of her mother, Gisèle, and how she carried on living, without self-pity, while learning to manage all of the things her husband once took care of. She shares how her mother managed to maintain her joie de vivre in circumstances none of us could imagine.

Gisèle has won acclaim around the world after she opted for a public trial, one in which Caroline herself has testified, turning the tables; the shame is no longer borne by the victims in silence but directed, at last, to the abusers. Caroline has set up her own campaign, #MendorsPas: Stop Chemical Submission: Don’t Put Me Under, to address the issue of chemical submission in the home. Together, mother and daughter reveal another side to the violence committed against women, as they bravely transform their private trauma into a collective fight.

• I’ll Never Call Him Dad Again by Caroline Darian
• Published by: Recorded Books on March 18, 2025
• Genre: Biography/Memoir, true crime
• Listening length: 4 hours 16 minutes
• Dates listened: 5.20.25 – 5.22.25 (2 days)
• Format: Audiobook
• Narrator: Heather Long, Caroline Darian
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• ⭐⭐⭐

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Off! What a hard story to hear about. Truth really is stranger (more awful, disgusting, etc.) than fiction, as they say. I was really surprised that I hadn’t heard about this case, as I kind of consider myself a true crime junkie. Maybe I hadn’t because it happened in France, and I’m in the U.S.A. I also don’t watch much news, so somehow I’ve missed the headlines about this case that came out in late 2020. My mother is the one who told me about it.

I did a little bit of research and reading into the case before starting the audiobook. I wanted to know what I was getting myself into before, and wow. My mouth was hanging open. This sounds like something made up for a horror or thriller movie, not real life! In late 2020, Caroline’s father was caught and arrested for taking pictures up women’s dresses in a store. What comes to light after this arrest will make you sick to your stomach. They discover that over the last 10 years, her father has been drugging her mother and inviting strange men (almost 100 in total) over to have sex with his wife so he can take pictures and videos of the event! Not to make money from it, even. I’m not saying this would make it ok, but I guess somewhat easier to wrap my head around a reason of “why?”. This was solely for his sick pleasure, so he could be a voyeur!

“For while he’s still alive, I may never be able to tell him, face to face, that he has ruined an huge portion of my life, extinguished a spark I had before, crushed underfoot the natural confidence I once had in men.”

The whole thing is obviously disgusting and sickening, but it somehow bothered me even more, thinking that there were almost 100 men who signed up for this. They participated, knowing that the female (his wife, the author’s mother) was drugged. They knew this was rape!! These men answered his online advertisements and followed along with his rules for participation: don’t wear cologne, don’t smoke before coming, don’t have long fingernails, just to name a few. He also didn’t want the men to wear condoms!! The poor mother was found to have 4 sexually transmitted diseases once everything came out. Thankfully, she did not have HIV, even though one of her rapists is HIV positive and raped her several times. For me, I think that’s the part that makes me the sickest to my stomach. Yes, Dominique Pelicot was an awful, disgusting human being, but so were all of these men. Thinking that 1 man is this depraved is one thing…but having the reality that there are hundreds, probably thousands, of men who are on websites like these, participating in and/or conducting rapes of women who trust and love them, and the women have absolutely no clue. And the things that some of these men said at the trial!!! 😡 “I’m not a rapist, but if I had wanted to rape I wouldn’t have chosen a 57-year-old woman, I would have chosen a pretty one.” – Ahmed Tbarik (54 year-old rapist and father of 3). “She’s his wife, he can do whatever he likes with her.” – Simoné Mekenese (43 year-old rapist, father of 5). “I didn’t know fingering was raping”. – Philippe Leleu (62 year-old rapist who only performed digital prenetration of Gisele). The fact that there are men, MULTIPLE men out there, who would participate, condone, and think this way, scares the shit out of me!

The only reason I gave this book a 3 ⭐, which probably seems a bit low considering the content, is that I wanted more. You won’t learn anything new about the case or the people involved, other than what you already know from watching the news or reading articles about it. So that was a little disappointing to me. I wanted to know more about their past and their family. I just wanted something new that I hadn’t already seen/read, and this book didn’t have it. This book was in support of Gisele, but also mainly about Caroline and how she tries to manage the destruction of her family. I get that Gisele’s story isn’t her daughter’s story to tell. Maybe one day, Gisele will write a book. I am so glad that her father was finally caught. Just to think…this all came out only because he was caught filming/taking pictures up women’s skirts! Who knows how much longer this might have gone on! I thought it was incredibly brave that Gisele wanted a public trial, because she wanted the opportunity to face her rapists, and show them that she was not afraid of them. What a brave and powerful woman she is. My heart breaks for this poor family, and the wounds that they are now needing to heal. And I hope Dominique, and all the other men who received sentences (only 50 did), are raped multiple times a day in prison. I said what I said!!