The happy ambivalence of intimacy

In her novel L’intimite (Actes Sud, 2020), Alice Ferney once again tackles the subject of motherhood, a familiar motif spanning her published work. The novel unflinchingly confronts societal questions that her previous novels simply were not able to address, such as the framing of reproductive techniques (ART, surrogacy) as valid alternatives to “natural” reproduction, and even as the “motherhood of the future.” During this interview, the novelist expands on a long-harbored and well-informed outlook on the different guises of feminism, the issue of consent in romantic relationships, and the way in which technology and market forces disrupt our intimacies.