Who is Melvil from the nonfiction book, You Will Not Have My Hate?

Melvil is the 17-month-old son of Hélène and Antoine Leiris. Though he is too young to fully understand death and its implications, Leiris explains to him that while his mother will never return, the two of them will always have their memories of her. Melvil’s life follows a regular routine of activities including eating, playing, and taking baths. This routine, and parenting Melvil generally, become the driving force in Leiris’s life following Hélène’s death. Though the boy does attend his mother’s funeral, Leiris writes a letter in Melvil’s voice expressing his sadness at his mother’s death and determination to help his father live with his grief.