He Said, She Said

Forbidden Love, the first-person account of the relationship between schoolteacher Mary Letourneau, now 36, and her “victim,” Vili Fualaau, now 15, hit the bookstores in Paris last week. The book portrays a couple who, while fond of each other, had very different views on several issues, including the source of their attraction (She: “He is…a poet capable of lyricism, an artist full of spirit and talent”; He: “I was 12 years old and I had never f___ed anyone… I wanted to…see what it was like”); whom their relationship might affect (She: “They never told me, never, that I could never see my children again…I would have crossed the border with them”; He: “My mother was going to…kick my ass”); and having a second child (She: “I wanted to have other children with Vili”; He: “I didn’t really feel ready for another baby…She should have told me. I wouldn’t have looked like such a fool”). Letourneau is serving a 7 1/2-year prison sentence, and last week gave birth to their second child, a girl.

–By Jamie Malanowski/New York and Carol Poirier/Paris