Happening

“Happening” by Annie Ernaux. This is an autobiographical “novel” by the most recent winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. I was interested in reading some of her work after reading an in-depth article about her. This book is the story of her abortion in 1963, when she was in college, and when abortion was illegal in France, where she lived. The book is stark and so detailed we are right there with her the entire time. And we also have access to her inner life throughout the ordeal. We see her journey from disbelief to assuming an abortion would be difficult but possible to finally realizing she could lose her life. We experience it with her. Unfortunately the book is more timely now than ever.