Weaving together history, literature, and personal experience, this recent book from a master of literature crafts a mesmerizing exploration of language, loss, and the enduring power of the spirit world. 

The strange word “Mdeilmm” was reported to have been uttered by the spirit of Shakespeare when called up during a séance in 1854 at the instigation of the French poet Victor Hugo. Hugo was then living in exile on the island of Jersey where he took part in several such séances. Hélène Cixous weaves this scene into a rich tapestry that draws from many corners of her world, both real and fictional: Dostoevsky’s Idiot, Hugo’s Last Day of a Condemned Man, Poe’s story “The Gold Bug,” but also film footage of the assassination of Itzhak Rabin and many layers of memories of her Algerian childhood. Transcribed communications from spirits of the departed, her father and grandfather among them, provide a fascinating glimpse into past spiritual practices.  

Cixous’s unique narrative style enhances the book’s enchanting quality, ensuring that readers are not only engaged by the content but also captivated by the beauty of the prose. Meanwhile, the reader falls under the spell of the author’s incomparable “mole speech,” the language in which poets communicate. 

“The word itself ‘Mdeilmm’ was reported to have been uttered by the spirit of Shakespeare when called upon during a séance procured by Victor Hugo. So the story goes in the book, like a family myth that gets passed down generation to generation. . . . The word shapes Cixous' argument for language, for random occurrences of speech that bring emotion even if they are not ‘real’ words. She holds onto it for life, for sustenance, bridging two worlds together. . . . Hélène Cixous has the ability to make us think for centuries."

Hélène Cixous is professor emeritus of literature at the Université Paris VIII, where she founded and directed the Centre de recherches en études féminines. She is the author of more than seventy works of fiction, plays, and collections of critical essays, including, most recently, Well-Kept Ruins, We Defy Augury, and Tomb(e). Peggy Kamuf has previously translated several works by Hélène Cixous and many texts by Jacques Derrida. She is professor emerita of French and comparative literature at the University of Southern California. She is the director of the Derrida Seminars Translation Project and co-edits the series of Derrida’s teaching seminars in English. Her most recent book is Literature and the Remains of the Death Penalty.