Annie Ernaux describes the months she spent obsessed with her former lover's new partner, a woman she has never met. After the end of the relationship, she learns that he has started a life with someone else, and she fixes on finding out who the woman is, imagining her, and tracking her down. In short, precise prose, she analyzes the effect of jealousy on body and mind, and the strange way it makes her think about her own identity.
It suits readers who like Ernaux's spare, autobiographical style and honest treatment of emotion. It is brief, and works well for anyone curious about how obsession feels from the inside, without sentimentality.
Deep and inward-looking; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Empathetic Explorer. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2003
- Publisher
- Gallimard
- ISBN
- 9782070301690
- Language
- FR
