`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.' Edouard 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?

Author Biography

Born Eddy Bellegueule in Hallencourt, France, in 1992, Edouard Louis is the author of two novels and the editor of a book on the social scientist Pierre Bourdieu. His work has appeared in Freeman's and the Los Angeles Review of Books. His bestselling debut novel, The End of Eddy, has been translated into twenty languages, and has made him the most celebrated French writer of his generation.