Denise Lesur, a girl who grows up in a working-class family in a small Norman town, where her parents run a café and grocery store, narrates the story of her youth. She is ashamed of her parents' manners, their language and their poverty, and her education makes the gap larger. Annie Ernaux's first novel, written in short, harsh scenes, describes the child's feelings of disgust, the arguments between her parents, an unwanted pregnancy and an illegal abortion at the age of eighteen. She uses blunt, spoken language rather than literary style.
Readers who know Ernaux from her later memoirs will find the beginnings of her interest in class and shame. It suits anyone interested in French writing about social origins, and who can take a raw, honest narrative.
Inward-looking and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Empathetic Explorer. Which reader are you?
- ISBN
- 9789897112577
- Language
- PT
