Asphyxia
An extraordinary tale of a stifled childhood and an unrelenting love of life from the protégée of Simone de Beauvoir.
'Indisputably a brilliant writer'Evening Standard
In a small French town, a young girl grows up under the hard blue gaze of a mother who will not hold her hand. Her only comfort lies in the warmth of her ill grandmother.
Yet the world around her is humming with curiosity. From the obsessive Madame Barbaroux and her endless spring cleaning, to the homeless Monsieur Dezaille and his beloved collection of saucepans, Leduc exposes the eccentricities of provincial life with unflinching candour and striking beauty.
Violette Leduc, a frank depiction of lesbianism, poverty and loneliness, sold over 150,000 copies and nearly won the Prix Goncourt. Leduc died in 1972.
Derek Coltman translated several novels by Violette Leduc into English in the 1960s and 1970s. He also translated The General of the Dead Army by Ismail Kadare, from the French version of the Albanian.
