Asphyxia
Published on 3. December 2020
Book
Paperback/Softback
144 pages
978-1-913547-05-9 (ISBN)
Description
In a small French town, a young girl grows up under the hard blue gaze of a mother who will not hold her hand. Her only comfort lies in the warmth of her ill grandmother.
Yet the world around her is humming with curiosity. From the obsessive Madame Barbaroux and her endless spring cleaning, to the homeless Monsieur Dezaille and his beloved collection of saucepans, Leduc exposes the eccentricities of provincial life with unflinching candour and striking beauty.
An extraordinary tale of a stifled childhood and an unrelenting love of life from the protegee of Simone de Beauvoir.
Yet the world around her is humming with curiosity. From the obsessive Madame Barbaroux and her endless spring cleaning, to the homeless Monsieur Dezaille and his beloved collection of saucepans, Leduc exposes the eccentricities of provincial life with unflinching candour and striking beauty.
An extraordinary tale of a stifled childhood and an unrelenting love of life from the protegee of Simone de Beauvoir.
Reviews / Votes
'Violette Leduc is an exceptional writer, and one of the most extraordinary women ever to have written about herself' TLS'Indisputably a brilliant writer' Evening Standard
'Like Colette she has a wonderful feeling for all kinds of sensual happiness' Daily Mail
'There are no adjectives for Mlle. Leduc's work, beyond the obvious one, astonishing. To read her is to be astonished by the experience of an enlarged world' New York Times Book Review
'What distinguishes this book, beyond the acuity of the emotion, is the sharpness and closeness of the observation with which the little daughter regards her own town' The Scotsman
'The real strength of the book lies in the atmosphere of sheer ordinariness it manages to evoke' The Observer
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Pushkin Press
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-913547-05-9 (9781913547059)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Violette Leduc was born in Arras, France, in 1907, the illegitimate daughter of a serving girl who would later blame Violette for her personal misfortunes. She was sent to boarding school, from which she was eventually expelled after her affairs with a female pupil and a tutor were discovered. Her 1964 memoir La Batarde, a frank depiction of lesbianism, poverty and loneliness, sold over 150,000 copies and nearly won the Prix Goncourt. Leduc died in 1972.