Annie Ernaux describes the life of a girl who grows up in a provincial French town in the 1950s and then becomes a wife and mother. She had believed that she would be free, and her studies had given her a sense of independence, but marriage brought housework, a sense of duty, and the loss of her time. The narrator looks back at her decisions, her upbringing, and the habits she picked up, to see how society shaped her.
Ernaux writes with short, plain sentences and a sociologist's eye. It suits readers who like autobiographical writing, as well as those curious about women's lives in postwar France.
Deep, inward-looking and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Wisdom Collector. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 1981
- Language
- EN
