Faustine Bétouin: Writing Between Silence and Society

For Faustine Bétouin, literature arrived both as a necessity and as a discovery. Originally from Paris, she moved to San Francisco with her family in 2018 and has since published her first novel, En sourdine. The book explores the fractures and strengths of women today, weaving together the intimate and the social. 

Her path to writing was anything but linear. Trained as a lawyer, she first worked in a law firm before joining Amazon, where she focused on Kindle and ebooks, and later Meta in San Francisco. Everything changed when she suddenly lost her work permit. That abrupt void, she recalls, was filled by writing short stories, without the slightest intention of publishing them. It was only later, while stuck in France for administrative reasons, that she transformed those texts into a novel, inspired by the lives of her neighbors in a Haussmannian building. 

Her style is marked by a desire to reveal what hides behind appearances and silences. Starting from individual trajectories, she tries to tell something larger about contemporary life. Inspiration often comes from literature, but also from everyday moments: a conversation overheard in a café, the paradoxes of our time, the fragments of ordinary life that carry universal meaning. 

Today, Bétouin is working on her second novel, set in the United States. Living abroad, she observes both the contradictions and the inspiration that shape this country, and she seeks to capture that blend through the story of a French woman learning to adapt. 

Her connection with the Alliance Française feels natural. She sees it as a place of encounter and transmission, and she is honored to share her work there. During her upcoming presentation, she hopes to speak about the adventure of writing a first book, the themes that matter most to her, and a bit of Paris to make the audience travel. But above all, she wants to open a dialogue with readers, to create a space for exchange around literature. 

For her, writing is about authenticity: finding the right words to tell our lives. She hopes that those who attend her talk will leave with the feeling of having shared a genuine moment, one where literature becomes not only a story on the page but a conversation between people. 

You can meet Faustine Bétouin and hear more about her journey this Saturday, September 27, at the Alliance Française Silicon Valley. Join us for a lively discussion, Q&A, and book signing.  Register here: Event RSVP