The author grew up in Hallencourt, a village in northern France where many live below the poverty line. This novel is about life there. It is an extraordinary portrait of escaping from an unbearable childhood. Written with an openness and compassionate intelligence, ultimately, it asks, how can we create our own freedom?

‘A brilliant novel… courageous, necessary and deeply touching’ Guardian

Édouard Louis grew up in 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?

‘A mesmerising story about difference and adolescence’
New York Times

‘Édouard Louis…is that relatively rare thing – a novelist with something to say and a willingness to say it, without holding back’
The Times

‘Louis’ book has become the subject of political discussion in a way that novels rarely do’
Garth Greenwell, New Yorker