Nathalie Sarraute: A Life Between

Description

The definitive biography of a leading twentieth-century French writer A leading exponent of the nouveau roman, Nathalie Sarraute (1900-1999) was also one of France's most cosmopolitan literary figures, and her life was bound up with the intellectual and political ferment of twentieth-century Europe. Ann Jefferson's Nathalie Sarraute: A Life Betw

Ann Jefferson is professor emerita of French at the University of Oxford and the author of several books on French literature and culture, including Genius in France: An Idea and Its Uses (Princeton).

"Shortlisted for the R. Gapper Book Prize" "A major contribution to Sarraute studies. . . . [Jefferson's] account of Sarraute's life and career will be indispensable reading not just for scholars, but for anyone who wants to know who Nathalie Sarraute was."---Toril Moi, London Review of Books "[This] compelling biographical portrait leaves no doubt that Sarraute, at least for an elusive moment, cast off old encumbrances and set literature at a new angle to the world."---Benjamin Balint, Wall Street Journal "Ann Jefferson's scrupulous and deeply knowledgeable biography deserves to revive Sarraute's reputation. . . . [The] story she tells illuminates a key phase in 20th-century French culture as embodied by one of its most idiosyncratic representatives."---Paul Dean, Hopkins Review "Nathalie Sarraute's declaration to an interviewer in 1978 summed up a long life (she lived to 99) of passionate, unflinching commitment to writing. Ann Jefferson's lively and engaging biography of the French novelist and dramatist shows how this commitment often set her at odds with dominant literary fashions."---Michael Cronin, Irish Times