Asphyxia

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.

'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