YOU WILL NOT HAVE MY HATE

(Vintage £7.99) ON NOVEMBER 13, 2015, Helene Leiris went with a friend to see the American band Eagles Of Death Metal at the Bataclan theatre in Paris, leaving her husband, Antoine, at home with their 17-month-old son, Melvil.

Late that evening, Antoine turned on the television: there had been terrorist attacks on Paris, including a shooting at the Bataclan. The friend survived, but Helene was killed.

Three days later, Antoine posted on Facebook an extraordinary letter to his wife’s murderers. He would not hate them, he wrote, nor would Melvil. ‘All his life this little boy will defy you by being happy and free.’

This heartbreaking and beautifully written memoir lays bare the terrible chronology of grief, but it is also a testimony to the power of love and hope.