I enjoyed this book. Wasnt what I expected but I still enjoyed it. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to dwzd it

A very powerful and gripping story that is difficult to read in some parts but worth sticking with. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work.

The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, no significant gaps between words and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book. A star has been deducted because of this.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

The more I read of Ernaux, the clearer it becomes that each piece of writing is a fragment of a greater oeuvre that contemplates a historicised sense of European and female self in the latter half of the twentieth century forwards. Different aspects of 'Annie Ernaux' are foregrounded in each book, expressing a sense of the mutability and lack of easy coherence, that inability to say definitively and once and for all 'this is I'.

In this book, Ernaux returns to her parents and her adolescence, tracing the forces that press on her identity: class and socio-economic grouping, post-war generation, suburban France, education, religion, gender politics. The 'shame' of the title is generated in multiple ways and serves as a version of Proust's madeleine in the way it holds and releases memories that continue to shape her psyche.

As always, Ernaux's writing has a clean, clinical precision as she takes a scalpel to her memories of her earlier self. I think it is recognised that the two over-riding passions which propel Ernaux's writing are shame and desire: this book, originally published in the 1990s, is thus a critical component in understanding Ernaux's overarching project.

Shame by Annie Ernaux unveils a tender memoir, delicately crafted to trace the lingering echoes of a traumatic event that forever altered her young life. At the tender age of twelve, she bore witness to the unimaginable: her father's menacing threat against her mother's very existence. Yet, let us not mistake this work for a mere chronicle of despair, for within its pages lies a profound unraveling, an introspective disentanglement of an experience and its profound impact upon her existence.

Annie Ernaux's narrative weaves a distinct dichotomy between the life that came before and the one that followed, an indelible divide that casts its shadow across every facet of her being. With unwavering determination, she guides us through the contours of her introspection, illuminating the lasting imprint of that fateful incident upon her relationship with her parents, her religious upbringing, her social standing, her education, and even the complexities of her romantic entanglements. The aftermath of trauma becomes the very prism through which she reexamines her past, poring over photographs and cherished keepsakes, dissecting her memories to unearth their meaning.

As the title itself suggests, shame permeates every strand of this memoir's fabric. It manifests not only in Annie's grappling with her own shame following the traumatic event, but also in her poignant journey through adolescence, marked by the acute awareness of her class status and the judgments of others. Moreover, the actions and perspectives of her parents contribute to the tapestry of shame, intertwining with her own narrative in an intricate dance of emotions.

While not an arduous read, Shame may elicit a deep resonance within those who have confronted their own harrowing experiences. Annie's courageous exploration of her emotions invites empathy, inviting those who have on similar paths to find solace within its pages. For enthusiasts of the memoir genre, I wholeheartedly recommend this poignant work. It unfolds swiftly, yet with a raw sincerity that captivates and pierces the heart. Moreover, it presents an engrossing portrayal of growing up in the 1950s.

The first sentence of Shame: 'My father tried to kill my mother one Sunday in June, in the early afternoon" is essentially the short novel in miniature. Like Annie Ernaux's other books, it brings to bear her direct and seemingly objective style on deeply personal experience. Its meditation on the effects of a traumatic event could be dismissed as an exaggeration, if it were not for its enduring impact on the then 12-year old Ernaux. Early on, she states that the book is an attempt to come to terms with and demystify this event: "I want to breathe life into it and strip it of its sacred aura (which long made me believe that it was responsible for my writing, that it lies somewhere at the heart of all my books)". As such it is an act of courage and faith and as such quite powerful, as well as being an evocative depiction of growing up in Normandy in the 1950s. Recommended.