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“My father tried to kill my mother one Sunday in June, in the early afternoon.” So starts Shame, written about events from when the author was 12. It‘s an interesting exploration of Catholic school in the 1950s but lacks a bit of the oomph one would expect from that first sentence. I‘ve only read a few of hers so far, and this one is the weakest. Low pick for me.

Generally I don‘t like short books, and then there‘s Ernaux. It‘s hard to explain, but she has a way with words that just pulls you in. In this one she explores the shame after her father tried to kill her mother. The day was 15th June 1952. A day that forever changed her and she is trying to look at that through the society she lived in at home, at school and its aftermaths.

A look into how the events of one summer permanently alter a 12 year old girl's perception of life.