Holes in the Protective Cloak of Palliative Care: Mathieu Simonet's La maternité and Eduardo Berti's An Ideal Presence

In the novels An Ideal Presence (2020) by Eduardo Berti and La maternité [Maternity] (2012) by Mathieu Simonet, relatives of the dying and palliative care professionals are given a voice. Their experiences highlight "holes" in the cloak of care, which can never protect the terminally ill completely. However, they also raise the question of a pallium for the carers themselves. This need of protection, expressed in both novels by a concern to find the right dosage between caring presence for the terminally ill and self-caring distance from their suffering, risks clashing with the low-tech, high-touch approach associated with the hospice movement. By exposing the limits of palliative care, these (auto-)fictional accounts may prevent inflated expectations in this important medical field.