An academic dissects a defining period of self-repair. Through raw reflections on events, thoughts, and their echoes, she navigates a quest for self-improvement and renewal.

Repair immerses readers in the labyrinth of one woman’s past, present, and future—centred on her complex psychological reckoning with equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). Far from liberating, EDI becomes a source of exhaustion for her and those she strives to support.

This work gives voice to the silenced—an homage to choices made in shadows.

Originally from Mauritius, Blandine Emilien has lived in multiple countries between 2004 and 2024. As an academic trained in applied foreign languages, human resource management and the sociology of work, she has endeavoured to give voice to workers in her research and enjoys building collective narratives from the accumulation of individual life stories. To give life to what she observes in her academic research, she has developed projects in which she experiments with blending social science and art. She lives in Bristol, UK.

Customer Reviews

5.0

3 reviews

Tina

Starting a book review by writing about how I saw myself in the story feels cliché, but I’ll borrow a lesson from the novel’s protagonist and live my truth. Repair is an important read for so many of us still trying to find their footing in academia—and, in many ways, the world beyond it. It follows the life of Maude, who is equal parts sharp, creative, and witty, and whose trials and tribulations reveal the quiet fractures of existing 'on the margins'. The dialogue hits close to home, capturing that constant, exhausting tennis match between 'being the right way' versus 'doing the right thing'. But beyond its acute observations, it is a story about humanity in all its messiness. Maude's story, like most of ours, reveals moments of connection, joy, and fulfilment sharply contrasted by experiences of exclusion, betrayal, and disappointment. Altogether, this is a book that embodies true and impactful EEDI, illustrating that good scholarship is also good art because it creates space for stories that speak truth to power and reveals the complicated nature of our inner worlds. Repair couldn’t have come into my hands at a better time, and it’s a book that has helped me feel a little less alone while navigating the academic world.
Professor Martin Parker

Equality, diversity, and inclusion have become condensed to EDI, a cliché to be supported or opposed. But within these bureaucratic processes are people, individuals who are inscribed as being unequal, not uniform, or excluded. In this delightful book, Blandine Emilien tells a story about the person who becomes the subject of EDI, and how they put themselves back together again.
Pankhuri Agarwal

This novella is as funny as it is fearless. With sharp wit and heart, it brings equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), and what these mean in workplaces, universities, and everyday life, into the same space as love, longing and desire. It confronts the weight of racism, sexism, and misogyny while still holding space for humour and the possibility of repair. Bold, punchy, and deeply relevant, it is an essential read for anyone interested in identity, allyship, and the politics of our times.