Annie Ernaux was born in 1940 at Lillebonne, near the mouth of the Seine. Her early years were spent in the Lillebonne, Lisieux, Yvetot area, where her parents had a 'café-épicerie'. After leaving school, she took a Lettres modernes degree and then the agrégation. She became a schoolteacher in the outskirts of Paris. She now teaches French literature at university level on a télé-enseignement course. Edited by P.M . Wetherill, Professor of French, University of Manchester.