Annie Ernaux’s “A Man’s Place” is a powerful memoir that explores the complex relationship between a father and daughter. Published in 1983, the book is widely regarded as a classic of French literature and has been translated into multiple languages. The book is a reflection on Ernaux’s upbringing in a working-class family in rural France, and the profound impact that her father had on her life. The narrative focuses on the life of her father, who was a factory worker and had limited education. The story follows his journey from a young boy working on a farm to a factory worker, and ultimately to his death from cancer. Throughout the book, Ernaux examines her father’s life and experiences through the lens of her own memories, highlighting the similarities and differences between her own life and that of her father. She explores the challenges and limitations that her father faced as

It’s no secret on these pages that OVID loves French literature for it gave us Voltaire and Stendhal and Zola and Balzac and Flaubert and Sartre and the list goes on. OVID believes the world should read more of French lit and thus, starting with the top 10 French novels recently published in English, OVID brings the running list of great reads by French authors. Jump to any of the top 10 French novels OVID recommends:Painting Time by Maylis de KerangalThe Anomaly by Hervé Le TellierIn His Own Image by Jérôme FerrariHuman Nature by Serge JoncourBirth of a Bridge by Maylis de KerangalNot Everybody Lives the Same by Jean-Paul DuboisAnd Their Children After Them by Nicolas Mathieu Painting Time by Maylis de Kerangal In Maylis de Kerangal’s Painting Time, we are introduced to the burgeoning young artist Paula Karst, who is enrolled at the famous Institut de Peinture in Brussels. Unlike