Annie Ernaux recounts a relationship she had in her fifties with a student who was thirty years younger. She describes how they met, the secrecy of the affair, the places they went and how it gave her a feeling of getting back a lost youth. Ernaux ties this to memories of her own early life: an abortion she had as a young woman, her working-class origins, and shame about class. She writes with the cool, short style she is known for, and the book is only about eighty pages.
It suits readers who like autofiction and memoirs about age, desire and class. It is a quick, precise read, ideal for first-time readers of Ernaux. It is easy to discuss afterwards, since the main question it raises has no single obvious answer.
Inward-looking; an easy read.
Best for readers like The Empathetic Explorer. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2022
- Publisher
- Gallimard
- ISBN
- 9782072980084
- Language
- FR
