Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my free eARC in exchange for a review!

I’ve read 8 of Annie Ernaux’s books by now and I love her work. I love how she makes the intimate and personal universal, I love how exact she is with her memories, while at the same time acknowledging that memory is fallible. Happening, I Remain in Darkness, The Years, A Frozen Woman, A Girl’s Place, magnifique 😚 Shame… didn’t do it for me 😭

The first line had me thinking I was in for another Ernaux treat - ‘My father tried to kill my mother one Sunday in June, in the early afternoon.’ Following this gut-punch of a first line, she goes on to dissect the social and cultural milieu of the year this event occurred. This is sort of like what she does with The Years, except there’s none of the intimacy. I found myself bored and drifting during explanations of her town’s social hierarchy and her Catholic school’s strict rules. I perked up a little when she began to weave in how shame began to taint certain aspects and events of her life during this time, but by this point the 92-page book was practically over.

Tanya Leslie has, as usual, done a marvellous job with the translation - it’s just that the content itself was a little dull 😅 If you’re new to Ernaux, I’d recommend Happening or A Girl’s Story instead as a place to start!