Pauline Editions introduces Georges Hourdin's new book this way:
«...The book tells the story of an unusual couple: an aging father and his handicapped daughter. With both strength and discretion, Georges Hourdin sets out on a difficult journey—for himself, for his daughter, and for others facing similar circumstances.
He draws us into the daily life of his daughter Marie-Anne, who, already marked by genetic irregularity, does not escape the trials of suffering: the death of her mother, severe depression, the feeling of inferiority compared to those unlike her.
With restraint and honesty, Hourdin addresses reserved and intimate subjects—sexuality, the desire to love and to build a family—struggles that occupy his daughter. He does this to show how young people with Down syndrome, tested and struggling as they are, feel as deeply and naturally as everyone else feels and lives».
The book is, then, a testimony to what Hourdin has lived through, doing his best to help Marie-Anne find her freedom and autonomy.
It is a book that can help parents and educators reflect on how difficult, complex, and demanding it is to accompany mentally handicapped people on their journey toward affection and sexuality.
Becoming aware of this problem is urgent, because ignoring it as though it does not exist—or solving it glibly with slogans like the one the author quotes at the book's end, "freedom is therapeutic"—will not do.
It is not easy, either, to offer solutions or alternatives to the position taken by Marie-Anne's father. Every person is different, and this is as true for the handicapped as for anyone else.
What seems clear to us is that one cannot:
— deny mentally handicapped people the right to love and be loved by pretending the problem does not exist, treating them as incapable or unworthy; dismissively, people say: "they're always children."
— leave them to do what they want and can, avoiding the risks, believing that sexuality alone will help them compensate for their hunger for love.
The problem is of extreme complexity, and Hourdin's answer remains a subjective solution that cannot be taken as exemplary for all.
Ombre e Luci, aware that we cannot offer easy solutions or prescriptions that work for everyone, finds exemplary the difficult, lived search that Jean Vanier undertakes over many years with handicapped adults in his new book: "Homme et femme, il les fit" (Italian translation Li fece uomo e donna, Jacabook 1988)
- Mariangela Bertolini, 1985