A Frozen Woman

This sequel to A Man's Place and prequel to Simple Passion is Ernaux's description of a transformation from girlhood into womanhood. A fictionalized account of the author's teenage awakening and of her later life as a 30-year-old married teacher and mother of two infant sons, A Frozen Woman mixes affection, rage, and bitterness to reveal Ernaux at her most harrowing, affecting, and inspiring.

Born in 1940, ANNIE ERNAUX grew up in Normandy, studied at Rouen University, and began teaching high school. From 1977 to 2000, she was a professor at the Centre National d’Enseignement par Correspondance. Her books, in particular A Man’s Place and A Woman’s Story, have become contemporary classics in France. She won the prestigious Prix Renaudot for A Man's Place when it was first published in French in 1984. The English edition was a New York Times Notable Book and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. The English edition of A Woman’s Story was a New York Times Notable Book.