The novelist and daughter of BHL spoke about her very strong relationship with her famous father and the demons she fights on a daily basis.
It’s in Gala that Justine Lévy, the eldest daughter of Bernard-Henri Lévy, indulged in some confidences. On the occasion of the release of his third novel, A strange sorrowshe talks in particular in the magazine about the relationship she has with her famous father.
“He’s the first person I’ve called…”
Justine Lévy, the daughter of the divisive Bernard-Henri Lévy and his former wife Isabelle Doutreluigne – a model who had serious drug problems and died of cancer in 2004 – did not have as easy a childhood as one might think. While her mother never really fulfilled her role, her illustrious father almost raised her alone. And this built a powerful relationship between them that continues to this day.
“He has done nothing to deserve to have a 50-year-old daughter who is not doing well. It’s a bit dishonorable at my age to continue to call his dad all the time. He is the first person just after my partner that I call when my children are sick!”says Justine Lévy. The novelist, who says she is still in mourning for her imperfect mother, adds about her psychological state: “I sometimes hide in illnesses and withdraw from the world. Many people are familiar with this process of trying to be as less alive as possible… so as not to suffer.“
Bernard-Henri Lévy “funnier” than what it seems? Her daughter confides
For her, Bernard-Henri Lévy – who has been married since the 1990s to the actress and singer Arielle Dombasle – is a father at odds with the public image he gives himself. “When my friends meet him, they find him funnier than they imagined”she quipped.
Today, she shares her life with the actor Patrick Mille, with whom she had two children, Suzanne and Lucien, aged 20 and 16, whom she tends to overprotect, in reaction to her own childhood. “I’m constantly afraid for my children, I geolocate them. It must be hell but fortunately, they are wonderful. Aware of having an anxious mother, they have put some sort of automatic correctors in their heads and it makes them laugh more than it stresses them”she said.
