Happening (Annie Ernaux)

Important, harrowing memoir of Ernaux's horrifying and traumatizing experience of terminating her pregnancy in 1963 France, when it was illegal. Crippled by the potential social stigma of becoming an unwed mother, Ernaux attempts an abortion herself and when she fails, turns to an abortionist, which lands her on the brink of life and death in a hospital.

Nobel Prize in Literature Winner 2022.