In 1963, Annie Ernaux was a twenty-three-year-old literature student from a working-class family in France, where abortion was illegal and punishable by prison. Discovering she is pregnant, she is determined to finish her studies and refuses to be trapped by the pregnancy. She describes the weeks of waiting, the failed attempts to find help from friends and doctors, and the dangerous procedure that finally ends it. Ernaux writes in short, unadorned sentences, reconstructing what she remembers and the diary she kept.
A brief, direct account suited to readers who want to understand what illegal abortion meant before legalization. It is an important entry point to Ernaux's autobiographical work and takes only a couple of hours to read.
Deep, inward-looking and contemplative; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Empathetic Explorer. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2001
- Publisher
- Gallimard
- ISBN
- 9787780023146
- Language
- FR
