The Only Girl in the World: A Memoir

Author(s): Maude Julien

Biography & Memoir

The Only Girl in the World is an inspiring testament to the resilience of the human spirit. Maude Julien's childhood was defined by the iron grip of her father, who was convinced his daughter was destined for great deeds. His plan began when he adopted Maude's mother and indoctrinated her with his esoteric ideals. Her mission was to give him a daughter as blonde as she was, and then to take charge of the child's education. That child was Maude, on whom her father conducted his outrageous experiment-to raise the perfect 'super-human' being. The three lived in an isolated mansion in northern France, where her father made her undergo endless horrifying endurance tests. Maude had to hold an electric fence without flinching. Her parents locked her in a cellar overnight and ordered her to sit still on a stool in the dark, contemplating death, while rats scurried around her feet. How did this girl, with her loveless and lonely childhood, emerge so unscathed, so full of the empathy that was absent in her childhood? How did she manage to escape? Maude was sustained by her love of nature and animals and her passion for literature. In writing this memoir, Maude Julien shows that it is possible to overcome severe trauma. She recounts her chilling and deeply moving story in a compelling and compassionate voice.


Product Information

* Extract/author interview to be place with major ANZ weekend supplements * National radio interviews on programs such as Radio National Life Matters and Radio New Zealand's Kim Hill * Wide review coverage in ANZ broadsheet and tabloid newspapers * Online reviews on sites such as the Guardian, Daily Review and Mamamia * Review coverage in Australian and NZ women's magazines including Elle, Australian Women's Weekly, New Zealand Women's Weekly and Next * Review coverage in literary and general publications such as the Big Issue, Good Reading, North & South and NZ Listener * Reading copies available before publication * Widespread online marketing campaign focused on readers of literary and current affairs publications * Shared advertising in magazines like ABR, Monthly and the Big Issue * Advertising in bookseller newsletters * Budget for bookseller catalogues * Feature title in Text newsletters, website and social media campaigns

'A living testimony of resilience...An account as gripping as it is inspiring.' Elle 'Maude Julien delivers a staggering testimony, one that remains full of hope.' Ouest France 'A serious subject: manipulation, in which the author is now a professional therapist. Maude Julien does not write with resentment, or bear grievances; rather she delivers a clear message of hope.' Livreshebdo 'This story is never maudlin-it is so absorbing that you have to remind yourself to breathe from time to time.' Le Point 'Her book offers a ray of hope.' Metro Belgique

Maude Julien works as a psychotherapist, specialising in mind and behavioural control, emotional manipulation and trauma, and conducts anthropological research among Indigenous Australians. She lives in Paris. Ursula Gauthier is a journalist at the French weekly magazine L'Obs and the author and co-author of many works. She lives in Paris. Adriana Hunter is the prize-winning translator of writers including Catherine Millet, Amelie Nothomb and VUronique Olmi.

General Fields

  • : 9781925498110
  • : Text Publishing Co
  • : The Text Publishing Company
  • : January 2017
  • : Australia
  • : May 2017
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : Maude Julien
  • : Paperback
  • : 517
  • : 362.76092
  • : 256