As if the reader were riding shotgun, this intensely vivid novel captures a life on the lam.
Patti Smith, who brought Astragal to the attention of New Directions, contributes an enthusiastic introduction to one of her favorite writers..
Sarrazin\'s life and work (her novels are semi-autobiographical) have been the subject of intense fascination in France; a new adaptation of Astragal is currently being filmed.
She died from a botched surgery at the height of her fame.
But as fate would have it, Sarrazin herself kept running into trouble with the law, even as she became a star.
Astragal burst onto the French literary scene in 1965; its fiery and vivacious style was entirely new, and Sarrazin became a celebrity overnight.
Fear of capture, memories of her prison cell, claustrophobia in her hideaways: every detail is fiercely felt.
They fall in love.
As she drags herself down the road, away from the prison walls, she is rescued by Julien, himself a small-time criminal, who keeps her hidden.
L\'astragale is the French word for the ankle bone Albertine Sarrazin\'s heroine Anne breaks as she leaps from her jail cell to freedom.
As if the reader were riding shotgun, this intensely vivid novel captures a life on the lam
