On December 10, 2025, former French president Nicolas Sarkozy released his much-anticipated memoir, The Diary of a Prisoner, a 216-page account of his three weeks spent at La Santé prison in Paris. The book, written during his incarceration following a conviction for illegal campaign funding, has quickly become both a publishing sensation and a political lightning rod, laying bare the personal hardships of prison life and igniting fierce debate about the future of the French right.
Sarkozy’s imprisonment began on October 21, 2025, after a French court sentenced him to five years for accepting illegal campaign funds from the Libyan regime. According to Politico, he endured 21 days behind bars before the Paris Court of Appeal overturned his sentence on November 10, 2025, releasing him under judicial supervision pending an appeal scheduled for March to June 2026. The timing of his book’s release—less than a month after his liberation—has only heightened its impact, thrusting Sarkozy back into the heart of France’s political conversation.
In The Diary of a Prisoner, Sarkozy offers a meticulous, sometimes wrenching, account of daily life in confinement. He describes his cell as akin to a “cheap hotel,” with a hard mattress, strange pillows, and meals served at the odd hour of 11:30 a.m. “A thin stream of water stopped very quickly, as if by a timer,” he writes, capturing the indignities of prison routine. The constant noise—night cries, slamming doors, rap music, and disputes between inmates—left him in a state of “deep nervous exhaustion,” as reported by Ecostylia. Solace came from running alone in the small gym between three aging machines and from reading classics like The Count of Monte Cristo and biographies of Jesus, as well as from prayer and correspondence with family.
The memoir is not merely a personal account; it is also a political manifesto. Sarkozy’s narrative is punctuated by visits and phone calls from his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and their children, and by a notable meeting with President Emmanuel Macron. According to Sarkozy, Macron offered to transfer him to a safer prison, but he refused any privileged treatment. The book also details a significant telephone conversation with Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Rally (RN), in which Sarkozy made clear his evolving political stance. When Le Pen asked about his position on a potential ‘republican front’—the traditional alliance of mainstream parties to block the RN in elections—Sarkozy replied, “No, and what’s more, I will take responsibility for this by taking a public position on the subject when the time comes.”
This statement marks a dramatic shift from Sarkozy’s previous positions in 2017 and 2022, when he had urged voters to support Emmanuel Macron against Le Pen in presidential runoffs. In his new memoir, he argues, “The path to rebuilding the right can only be achieved through the broadest possible spirit of unity, without exclusion or anathema.” This call for a broad right-wing alliance—including the RN—has sent shockwaves through his own party, Les Républicains (LR), and the wider French political establishment.
Reactions within LR have been mixed, if not outright hostile. Former Prime Minister Michel Barnier, for example, was quoted as saying, “No alliance with these parties with whom we do not share the same values,” underscoring the party’s longstanding resistance to any rapprochement with the RN. Yet, as Ecostylia notes, Barnier also tacitly acknowledged that LR has struggled to connect with voters on issues like work, security, and immigration—areas where the RN has gained ground.
Some voices, such as Gaullist and sovereigntist Henri Guaino, have defended Sarkozy’s new approach. Guaino argued, “The RN’s electorate is no longer the same as it was at the beginning. Even within the party, there are people who are not neo-fascists, who come from the UMP, and sometimes even from the RPR.” He characterized Sarkozy’s position as an “evolution,” not a betrayal or sudden reversal. The current LR president, Bruno Retailleau, has tried to strike a cautious balance, calling for unity “at the ballot box” while opposing formal electoral agreements with the RN. In a subtle but telling shift, Retailleau also recognized the RN as part of the “republican arc,” while excluding the far-left La France Insoumise from that circle.
Outside LR, the right remains fractious. Reconquête party leader Éric Zemmour has floated the idea of an open primary to select a right-wing candidate for the 2027 presidential election—but only if the RN is excluded and if LR does not organize the process. As Politico reported, such conditions effectively doom the proposal before it even starts.
Sarkozy’s memoir goes beyond political strategy to deliver a pointed critique of the French justice system. He describes his incarceration as a “tragedy,” denouncing what he sees as “judicial harassment” and arguing that the court’s decision to enforce his sentence before his appeal violated his presumption of innocence and right to an effective remedy. The book, according to Ecostylia, “raises general questions about the politicization of justice,” and Sarkozy draws historical parallels to figures like Dreyfus, Dumas, and Saint-Exupéry to frame his ordeal as part of a broader narrative about injustice and perseverance.
Family and faith emerge as central pillars in Sarkozy’s account. The support of his wife and children, the discipline of daily prayer and reading, and the encouragement of friends and supporters helped him weather the isolation and fatigue of prison life. The book also reveals the breadth of Sarkozy’s network, with mentions of calls from the King of Morocco and messages from political allies and critics alike.
Yet the memoir is, above all, a political intervention. Sarkozy does not declare a new presidential candidacy, but he positions himself as a potential kingmaker, arbiter, or even architect of a new right-wing coalition ahead of the 2027 elections. By openly challenging the “cordon sanitaire” that has long isolated the RN, he is forcing a reckoning within the French right and placing himself at the center of the debate about its future direction.
As the dust settles from his dramatic return to public life, one thing is clear: The Diary of a Prisoner is more than just a memoir. It is a calculated move in the ongoing battle for the soul of the French right—a battle that will play out in the months and years leading up to 2027.
