Annie Ernaux, the 82-year-old French author, has been awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize for literature. Ernaux, who shot to prominence with her fourth book, La place (1983), which depicted the life of her father and the social milieu in which he was raised. This was the book that gave an early glimpse of the writing style that would end up fetching the Nobel Prize for Ernaux in 2022.

Here we try to look at five of the best books by Annie Ernaux, which have helped carve her legacy as one of the most important voices in French literature today:

Getting Lost

Initially published in 2001 as Se perdre, Getting Lost is the story of Ernaux’s affair with a Soviet diplomat whom she had met in Leningrad during a tour of Russia. The book is an unadulterated version of the journal Ernaux had written during an 18-month period when the two were romantically involved.

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La Place

This 1983 book details the story of Ernaux’s father as she saw him while growing up. Her father was a working-class man who never showed much affection towards his family. This was the book where Ernaux employed her restrained approach to writing, which has now become her trademark.

Happening

Initially released in the French language as L’Événement in 2000, Happening is set in 1963 when at the age of 23, Ernaux became pregnant. The book deals with the social issues she had to face after this.

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The Possession

The Nobel Prize Twitter handle cited this book soon after it announced Ernaux as the winner. The tweet stated, “In ‘L’occupation’ (2002) Ernaux dissects the social mythology of romantic love. On the basis of notes in a diary recording her abandonment by a lover, she both confesses and attacks a self-image built on stereotypes. Writing becomes a sharp weapon dissecting truth.”

A Woman’s Story

This book by Ernaux details her relationship with her mother. It was after her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease that the would-be Nobel laureate chose to document their relationship in a book.