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Considered by many to be the iconic French memoirist鈥檚 defining work, The Years is a narrative of the period 1941 to 2006 told through the lens of memory, impressions past and present, cultural habits, language, photos, books, songs, radio, television, advertising and news headlines.

Annie Ernaux invents a form that is subjective and impersonal, private and collective, and a new genre 鈥� the collective autobiography 鈥� in order to capture the passing of time.

At the confluence of autofiction and sociology, The Years is 鈥榓 Remembrance of Things Past for our age of media domination and consumerism鈥� (New York Times), a monumental account of twentieth-century French history as refracted through the life of one woman.

鈥極ne of the best books you鈥檒l ever read.鈥�
鈥� Deborah Levy, author of Hot Milk

鈥楾he author of one of the most important oeuvres in French literature, Annie Ernaux鈥檚 work is as powerful as it is devastating, as subtle as it is seething.鈥�
鈥� Edouard Louis, author of The End of Eddy

鈥楻avishing and almost oracular with insight, Ernaux鈥檚 prose performs an extraordinary dance between collective and intimate, 鈥渂ig鈥� history and private experience. The Years is a philosophical meditation paced as a rollercoaster ride through the decades. How we spend ourselves too quickly, how we reach for meaning but evade it, how to live, how to remember 鈥� these are Ernaux鈥檚 themes. I am desperate for more.鈥�
鈥� Kapka Kassabova, author of Border

Born in 1940, Annie Ernaux grew up in Normandy, studied at Rouen University, and later taught at secondary school. From 1977 to 2000, she was a professor at the Centre National d鈥橢nseignement par Correspondance. In 2017, she was awarded the Marguerite Yourcenar Prize for her life鈥檚 work. In 2022, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Alison L. Strayer is a Canadian writer and translator. Her translation of The Years was awarded the 2018 French-American Translation Prize in the non-fiction category. She lives in Paris.

Written by Annie Ernaux
Translated by Alison L Strayer
Read by Sian Thomas
Abridged by Jill Waters with Mark Kilfoyle
Produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for 91热爆 Radio 4

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