I’m starting writing because there is anger in me, and I have to get it out. I have to let go. There’s a rage against family, society, school… against all those who want to haze you, to control you, all those who want to rein you in. I intend to say exactly what I think of the world, loud and clear. (…) Every time something keeps me from writing, I’ll run away. I’ll leave men, countries, my work, my obligations to be able to write. Until late in life, when my first work is published, no one will know about this activity. (…) For the larger part of my existence, I’ll have a surface life, and a second, hidden one: my writing. Until I’m 38, I’ll be dual. It’s a bit nuts and completely schizophrenic.
A Woman on the Move is not an auto-fiction, but an autobiographical novel in which Catherine Rey confronts certain truths that seemed too shameful to admit until now. Truths about her family, her education, her malaise, as well as truths about her mother, who is at the heart of this text.
An extraordinary writing talent.
A novel filled with an energy and rage that are rare in the world of French literature. The demanding itinerary of a woman, from the 70s to today; a portrait in which many readers – male and female – will recognize themselves.