Annie Ernaux

#2

Without compromises or concessions, Annie Ernaux plots the course of the human heart through her "simple passion" for a young married man from another country living in France for a short time. This is the true story of a physical and emotional journey, not a sentimental one. The passion of this short-lived affair is joined by the courage and the exactitude of the narrator wanting to know the truth of her emotions. With extraordinary simplicity, Ernaux exposes her passion without explaining it, and in the end hers is the pleasure of having lived and loved with her eyes open.

#3

She is thirty years old, a teacher married to an executive, mother of two infant sons. She lives in a nice apartment. And yet she is a frozen woman. Like millions of others, she has felt her enthusiasm and curiosity - the strength and happiness that once were a part of her - ebb and then disappear under the weight of her daily routine. The very condition that everyone around her seems to consider normal for a woman is killing her. In A Frozen Woman, Annie Ernaux shows once again her gift for lending power and authenticity to a distinctly womanist voice. While each of Ernaux's books contains an autobiographical element, A Frozen Woman, is the most autobiographical of all. Where A Woman's Story described her relationship with her mother, and Simple Passion described a fleeting love affair with a younger man, A Frozen Woman concentrates the spotlight on Annie herself. Mixing affection, rage and bitterness, this is Ernaux at her most harrowing, affecting and inspiring.