A Woman's Story

Upon her mother's death from Alzheimer's, Annie Ernaux tries to recapture the life of her mother, "the real woman, the one who existed independently from me, born on the outskirts of a small Normandy town." In sparse but eloquent prose, Ernaux explores the mother-daughter bond, the alienating worlds that threaten to disrupt it, and the inescapable truth that we must lose the ones we love. Featured in this impressive work from one of France's most important contemporary literary voices is a reading group guide as well as an original author interview.

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.