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3.5 

Simple Passion

By Annie Ernaux & Tanya Leslie
Simple Passion by Annie Ernaux & Tanya Leslie digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

WINNER OF THE 2022 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE

A New York Times Notable Book


In her spare, stark style, Annie Ernaux documents the desires and indignities of a human heart ensnared in an all-consuming passion.

Blurring the line between fact and fiction, an unnamed narrator attempts to plot the emotional and physical course of her 2 year relationship with a married foreigner where every word, event, and person either provides a connection with her beloved or is subject to her cold indifference.

With courage and exactitude, she seeks the truth behind an existence lived entirely for someone else, and, in the pieces of its aftermath, she is able to find it.

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Simple Passion Reviews

3.5
“This book feels like the thoughts you have in your head but never tell anyone in fear that they will judge you or think of you differently. As someone who has in the last few years had to look inwardly, especially sexually, this book felt almost personal at some points, especially in the times where A was not with her. The longing and nothingness that eats away at you when you have dedicated your being to a person, and then they leave you is raw and tangible on the pages. Including snippets at the end of the war happening in real time just really solidifies the impact this book has had on me.”

About Annie Ernaux

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.

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