A Girl's Story

In A Girl’s Story, Annie Ernaux returns to a defining moment in her past. Fifty years earlier, during the summer of 1958, the eighteen-year-old Ernaux found herself overwhelmed by another person’s will and desire. She surrendered to a man who soon abandoned her, leaving her confused, ashamed, and emotionally adrift.

Half a century later, Ernaux revisits that young woman she once tried to forget. By confronting the memories she buried for so long, she attempts to understand the experience that shaped her life.

What she uncovers is a moment marked by shame, humiliation, and betrayal—but also by the beginnings of self-awareness and independence. In this painful chapter, Ernaux recognizes the origins of her writing life.

WINNER OF THE 2022 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE