Emmanuel Carrère, widely regarded as one of France’s most prominent contemporary writers, recently reflected on the complex legacy of his late mother, Hélène Carrère d’Encausse, in his latest work, Kolkhoz. The book, published last August in France, explores themes of family secrets, memory, and history, centering on the life and influence of Hélène, a distinguished historian of Russia and the Soviet Union, former member of the European Parliament, and longtime perpetual secretary of the Académie Française. Kolkhoz was shortlisted for the Prix Goncourt and won the Prix Médicis, selling over 300,000 copies domestically. President Emmanuel Macron spoke at Hélène’s memorial service, held at Les Invalides in Paris.

Carrère began working on the book soon after his mother’s death in 2023, taking notes even while she was in a Paris hospice. He described his decision to write during her final days as an emotionally candid choice rather than a moral dilemma. The narrative is marked by a raw honesty, occasionally blunt and at times almost violent in its candor, but overall conveys a profound sense of filial respect and complicated love. Carrère acknowledges his portrayal might seem “brutal,” yet believes his mother would have recognized herself in the depiction.

Hélène Carrère d’Encausse was born in Paris in 1929 to exiled parents: a Georgian father and an aristocratic German-Russian mother. Carrère depicts her upbringing as a modest and secretive existence, contrasting with their aristocratic roots. During World War II, her father, who suffered from bipolar disorder, collaborated with the Nazi occupation authorities, motivated by anti-Bolshevik sentiments rather than ideological alignment. After the war, he disappeared under mysterious circumstances, a trauma that haunted Hélène throughout her life. She maintained a pattern of protective falsehoods toward her younger brother about their father’s fate and later concealed the severity of their mother’s illness.

Despite these difficulties, Hélène excelled academically, graduating from Sciences Po, where she met her future husband Louis Carrère d’Encausse. She insisted on securing French citizenship before marriage, affirming her commitment to France. Throughout her career, she became a well-known public intellectual in France, noted for her expertise on Russian affairs. In 2022, she misjudged the likelihood of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, a stance she later acknowledged while remaining engaged in ongoing political discourse. Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized her as a “great friend of our country” after her death.

Carrère’s mother grappled privately with the unresolved loss of her father, an absence he described as a persistent ghost in her life and works. In her 1988 book, The Russian Syndrome: One Thousand Years of Political Murder, she repeatedly used the term “haunted” to convey the lingering impact of political violence and personal trauma. Carrère interprets this as indicative of her subconscious struggles with loss and uncertainty.

The interview with Carrère revealed a writer whose method blends investigative reportage with introspective narrative, a style he terms “writing the real.” This approach emerged from his earlier experiences writing about true crime, most notably in his 2000 book The Adversary, which chronicled the story of Jean-Claude Romand, a murderer whose deception captivated the public. Carrère’s work continues to navigate the intersections of historical events, personal memory, and moral complexity, exemplified by his handling of his mother’s life and legacy in Kolkhoz.