My latest summer read was A Frozen Woman by Annie Ernaux. Ernaux has been writing for decades, but I feel like she’s having a resurgence, perhaps because of her recent Nobel Prize in Literature, but I can see why.

While everyone is reading Yesteryear, Ernaux’s A Frozen Woman takes readers back to motherhood in the middle of the last century and depicts a stifled life full of daunting work and caretaking as the main character put aside her lofty ambitions and raises two children with a husband who, like many husband/fathers of the time, was largely unhelpful.

Ernaux captures the labor and desperation that sometimes comes along with motherhood, especially a motherhood devoid of support–which is the normal for so many (most?).

For women who are mothers, but who are also ambitions, artistic, and driven, I think this book will resonate. The writing alone is beautifully done. The book is an acheivement for sure.