Born in 1940, Annie Ernaux grew up in Normandy, studied at Rouen University, and later taught at secondary 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. The Years won the Prix Renaudot in France in 2008, the Premio Strega in Italy in 2016, and was shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize in 2019. In 2017, Annie Ernaux was awarded the Marguerite Yourcenar Prize for her life's work.
‘I find her work extraordinary.’
— Eimear McBride, author of Strange Hotel
‘Admirable for its quiet grace as well as its audacity in a
willingness to note (and thus make noteworthy) the smallest parts
of life. It’s a masterclass in understatement, a quality difficult
to find nowadays, in literature or life.’
— Lucy Sweeney-Byrne, Irish Times
‘Reading her is like getting to know a friend, the way they tell
you about themselves over long conversations that sometimes take
years, revealing things slowly, looping back to some parts of their
life over and over’
— Joanna Biggs, London Review of Books
‘The book is at once lyrical and unruly. It’s a story of fleeting
encounters, overheard conversations and clear-sighted observations
that will make you pay attention to the seemingly ephemeral details
of ordinary life.’
— Monocle
‘Annie Ernaux is one of my favourite contemporary writers, original
and true. Always after reading one of her books, I walk around in
her world for months.’
— Sheila Heti, author of Pure Colour
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