Diana and Cupid (1761) | Pompeo Batoni / Metropolitan Museum of Art Public Domain Collection
An older woman and a younger man—a trope that operates on elements of fantasy and plays with conventional expectations. The dynamic between an older woman and a younger man is complex; it’s looked down upon, and it never gets tiresome.
In After David (ITNA Press, 2024), Catherine Texier explores these themes through a modern lens as her protagonist, Eve—a 62-year-old divorcée—delves into the modern world of dating apps. Texier’s depiction of this vivid character and the experiences she has within the novel, draw on parallels across Texier’s other published works (which include six novels and a memoir), calling into question whether or not Eve’s story has been told before, and in what capacity.
Texier sat down with Hannah McIntyre to discuss the new book and the sense of wisdom and confidence associated with the older woman, as embodied by Eve as she navigates life after her divorce—after David.
Hannah McIntyre: I’m interested in discussing in relation to your memoir Breakup, as After David seemed to make quite a few references to similar experiences and even characters—the ex-husband in both books is named David. Was there any intention behind that?
Catherine Texier: The ex-husband has become kind of a trope or character. It doesn’t mean that it’s the real one. Breakup was a memoir, it was really almost like a diary of the last few months of my relationship with my ex-husband. So I’ve kept the name David, but for me, he’s a fictional character.
McIntyre: More of like a code name.
Texier: Exactly. It’s a code name for the ex-husband.
McIntyre: This book is understood to be fiction, but there was a scene where Eve is sharing her novela with a writing group, and she responds in a way where the book’s criticisms seem to have personally offended her. I don’t know if that scene was inspired from a real life scenario, but in terms of sharing your personal details and experiences in your writing, how are you able to separate yourself from characters that represent parts of you in a way that makes you feel comfortable sharing them?
Texier: It’s an issue for me because I’ve also written completely fictional novels, but a lot of my work is very close to life. This particular scene is inspired by a real scene that happened in my life. I’ve changed quite a few details, but the heart of it was real. And in this case, I felt that I could do that because it’s also the experience of being a writer, and a woman writer particularly. I think that it reflected the heart of what I was trying to do with this book, which is for my main character, for the woman to allow herself to live this experience, which was dating online and this affair that she had and how it was received by the outside world, because there’s a lot of pressure against it because she was in her early sixties. And so I felt that the writing group’s reaction to our character was very typical of society in general, which is like, “I don’t believe it. It’s impossible. How could a younger man be attracted to her?” So it makes her feel even more vulnerable.
McIntyre: Much of the book revolves around Eve acknowledging that society thinks it’s taboo for an older woman to be with a younger guy. And I’m wondering if you had any of the same anxieties before releasing the book, or if you received any pushback throughout the process?
Texier: No, I didn’t have any anxiety about that before releasing the book. You always have anxiety before releasing a book anyway, but not in particular about that. Although I have to say that it took me a while to get a publisher, and there was a lot of pushback, similar to the writing group. “It’s not believable.” Or: “She should not be like that.” But most reviews were very positive. I’m not saying that so many people read the book, but particularly from women, there were strong positive reactions
There were a couple of men who read and liked the book, so I cannot generalize completely. But I have to say that when I was talking about publishers, a lot of the editors were women who also felt very uncomfortable with it. So I think it’s because it’s pushing boundaries. I know it is an experience that’s not at all uncommon, so I was surprised, actually. I would’ve expected even more women saying, “Yeah, I recognize myself.” But I guess it is still a taboo in some way. We’re talking about adults. I’m French, and although I’ve lived in the States for a very long time, there’s definitely tradition in French literature, like Colette, et cetera, of writing about that kind of relationship. So maybe it’s more acceptable. I don’t know. It seems to touch a nerve.
McIntyre: Throughout the novel, readers see many instances of Eve referencing time. There’s a constant update of seasons and how much time has passed. Did it have anything to do with the age component that you touch on?
Texier: I think that for my character, even though she was well aware that there was not much future for that affair, she was still sort of looking at time like, oh, it’s been six months, or it’s been a year, and then it didn’t go beyond that. So I think there was an element of that to try to see how long it would last.
McIntyre: The very last paragraph of the book is a reference to a conversation Eve had with David, as she says that New York is her home now. What was your reason for using the last moment of the book to refer back to David?
Texier: Yeah, I mean David, or the code name David, matters to me, as being the “American ex-husband.” I’m writing as a French person, and my character is French as well. So it serves as the looking back in time. Because there’s a lot of references to that period when she was married at the end, and it’s for the character to sort of see that she has changed. I didn’t realize that sometimes when you write, even if you use things from your life, you don’t realize exactly where you’re going with it. And at the end, I also felt that. I felt like, “Oh, that’s what it was about!” To let go.
Read an excerpt from After David, courtesy of Catherine Texier and ITNA Press.
