dougawells 's review for:

Simple Passion by Annie Ernaux
4.0

When Annie Ernaux won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2022, I realized that I had never read her works. So, I found four of her shorter books and ran full-on into her world of autofiction. Her prose is profoundly good. It is cutting, raw, and sparse - a compliment as I have found myself gravitating towards authors who can write beautifully with fewer words. Through and through, she is a feminist, and she gives remarkable voice to a 15-year-old navigating parents, school, and life; an 18-year-old in her first affair; and an adult who is watching her mother fade, then pass on. Her stories can be hard, direct, and cutting - and, through it all, her work is stunning.

*NOTE - I am using this review for all four books - doesn't take away from my love of Ernaux's writing