Madame P-R’s Complicated Role

Happening

This relationship flow traces Annie Duchesne’s changing understanding of the clandestine provider who risks, profits, and helps.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

The Address and Fee The Address and Fee from "Happening". The Address and Fee A Provider Identified LB gives Annie Duchesne Madame P-R’s name and address, describing her method and fee.

The Address and Fee from "Happening". The Address and Fee A Provider Identified LB gives Annie Duchesne Madame P-R’s name and address, describing her method and fee.

The Address and Fee A Provider Identified LB gives Annie Duchesne Madame P-R’s name and address, describing her method and fee. The provider first exists as a practical possibility. Trust by Report Annie relies on LB’s testimony and the promise of hygiene. She must place unusual trust in someone she has never met.

The First Meeting The First Meeting from "Happening". The First Meeting A Practical Consultation Madame P-R asks about dates, checks Annie Duchesne’s abdomen, and explains what will happen.

The First Meeting from "Happening". The First Meeting A Practical Consultation Madame P-R asks about dates, checks Annie Duchesne’s abdomen, and explains what will happen.

The First Meeting A Practical Consultation Madame P-R asks about dates, checks Annie Duchesne’s abdomen, and explains what will happen. Her focus on essentials avoids moral debate. Relief in Procedure The absence of questions and judgment comforts Annie. Practical competence becomes a form of care in a situation otherwise surrounded by shame.

The Painful Intervention The Painful Intervention from "Happening". The Painful Intervention Work Under Pressure Madame P-R inserts the probe while Annie Duchesne cries out.

The Painful Intervention from "Happening". The Painful Intervention Work Under Pressure Madame P-R inserts the probe while Annie Duchesne cries out.

The Painful Intervention Work Under Pressure Madame P-R inserts the probe while Annie Duchesne cries out. She insists on finishing the task and speaks of another woman’s fatal treatment by an incompetent abortionist. Care and Control Her manner combines expertise with authority over Annie’s body. The scene leaves gratitude and fear inseparable.

The Escort to the Station The Escort to the Station from "Happening". The Escort to the Station Concern Afterward Madame P-R walks Annie Duchesne to the station and waits for her train.

The Escort to the Station from "Happening". The Escort to the Station Concern Afterward Madame P-R walks Annie Duchesne to the station and waits for her train.

The Escort to the Station Concern Afterward Madame P-R walks Annie Duchesne to the station and waits for her train. Her concern suggests she fears Annie may collapse before getting home. A Maternal Echo Annie feels abandoned by everyone except the older woman, who walks beside her like a mother. Outside the apartment, that same figure also repels her.

A Belated Dedication A Belated Dedication from "Happening". A Belated Dedication Reassessing the Provider Annie Duchesne remembers Madame P-R as avaricious and poorly housed, yet recognizes her expertise and willingness…

A Belated Dedication from "Happening". A Belated Dedication Reassessing the Provider Annie Duchesne remembers Madame P-R as avaricious and poorly housed, yet recognizes her expertise and willingness…

A Belated Dedication Reassessing the Provider Annie Duchesne remembers Madame P-R as avaricious and poorly housed, yet recognizes her expertise and willingness to act. Her motives remain mixed rather than easily judged. Gratitude Without Idealization Annie says the book should be dedicated to her. The relationship resolves not in intimacy but in an acknowledgment of a woman who helped her survive.

December 1963

January 8, 1964

January 15, 1964

At the end of the book