Edouard Louis

'Before I had a chance to rebel against the world of my childhood, that world rebelled against me.In truth, confronting my parents, my social class, its poverty, racism and brutality came second. From early on I provoked shame and even disgust from my family and others around me. The only option I had was to get away somehow.This book is an effort to understand all that.'douard Louis grew up in Hallencourt, a village in northern France where many live below the poverty line. His bestselling debut novel about life there, The End of Eddy, has sparked debate on social inequality, sexuality and violence. It is an extraordinary portrait of escaping from an unbearable childhood, inspired by the author's own. Written with an openness and compassionate intelligence, ultimately, it asks, how can we create our own freedom?

The End of Eddy

An autobiographical novel about growing up gay in a working-class town in Picardy. “Every morning in the bathroom I would repeat the same phrase to myself over and over again . . . Today I’m really gonna be a tough guy.” Growing up in a poor village in northern France, all Eddy Bellegueule wanted was to be a man in the eyes of his family and neighbors. But from childhood, he was different—“girlish,” intellectually precocious, and attracted to other men. Already translated into twenty languages, The End of Eddy captures the violence and desperation of life in a French factory town. It is also a sensitive, universal portrait of boyhood and sexual awakening. Like Karl Ove Knausgaard or Edmund White, Édouard Louis writes from his own undisguised experience, but he writes with an openness and a compassionate intelligence that are all his own. The result—a critical and popular triumph—has made him the most celebrated French writer of his generation.

A Novel

Tim Vos

The horrifying reality of small=town prejudice, alienation and poverty. The world is never quite as rosy as those in the ivory tower of the metropolis perceive it to be.

dead line

Heartbreaking.

This book made me want to scream in despair, because it's so familiar.

Growing up in a council estate. Obvious problems that no one names. Chain smoking. Alcoholism. Random cruelty. Forced masculinity. Money worries. The need to be better so we can say "at least we're not like them"

The individual experiences are different, but the outcome is the same.

It's not cathartic, it's just depressing. Is this the best we can do? Handing off our misery and trauma to each other, because we don't know anything else?

Why is empathy so hard to come by?

'A brilliant novela courageous, necessary and deeply touching' Guardian douard Louis grew up in a village in northern France where many live below the poverty line. His bestselling debut novel about life there, The End of Eddy, has sparked debate on social inequality, sexuality and violence. It is an extraordinary portrait of escaping from an unbearable childhood, inspired by the author's own. Written with an openness and compassionate intelligence, ultimately, it asks, how can we create our own freedom? 'A mesmerising story about difference and adolescence' New York Times ' douard Louisais that relatively rare thing - a novelist with something to say and a willingness to say it, without holding back' The Times 'Louis' book has become the subject of political discussion in a way that novels rarely do' Garth Greenwell, New Yorker

Molly Bridge

Xenia

‘A brilliant novel... courageous, necessary and deeply touching’ Guardian Édouard Louis grew up in a village in northern France where many live below the poverty line. His bestselling debut novel about life there, The End of Eddy, has sparked debate on social inequality, sexuality and violence. It is an extraordinary portrait of escaping from an unbearable childhood, inspired by the author’s own. Written with an openness and compassionate intelligence, ultimately, it asks, how can we create our own freedom? ‘A mesmerising story about difference and adolescence’ New York Times ‘Édouard Louis...is that relatively rare thing – a novelist with something to say and a willingness to say it, without holding back’ The Times ‘Louis’ book has become the subject of political discussion in a way that novels rarely do’ Garth Greenwell, New Yorker

Duda Martins

Barış Yarsel

Basia

Klaus Eck

Daniel Kilby

Roman Micevic

Kristina

Hellboy TCR

'Before I had a chance to rebel against the world of my childhood, that world rebelled against me. In truth, confronting my parents, my social class, its poverty, racism and brutality came second. From early on I provoked shame and even disgust from my family and others around me. The only option I had was to get away somehow. This book is an effort to understand all that.' Édouard Louis grew up in Hallencourt, a village in northern France where many live below the poverty line. His bestselling debut novel about life there, The End of Eddy, has sparked debate on social inequality, sexuality and violence. It is an extraordinary portrait of escaping from an unbearable childhood, inspired by the author's own. Written with an openness and compassionate intelligence, ultimately, it asks, how can we create our own freedom?

The End of Eddy

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