Annie Ernaux writes about her mother's descent into Alzheimer's disease and her stay in a nursing home. She describes the visits, the changes in her mother's speech and memory, the staff, the other patients, and the guilt a daughter feels, as her mother, who had once been a strong working woman, becomes someone who no longer recognizes her. The text is short and uses plain, factual sentences, with the author as observer and participant in a decline.
It suits readers of Ernaux who want to follow how she writes about family and class, and anyone who has watched a parent lose their memory. It doesn't offer comfort, only attentive, honest description.
Deep and inward-looking; an easy read.
Best for readers like The Empathetic Explorer. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 1999
- Publisher
- Folio
- ISBN
- 9782070407163
- Language
- FR
