Annie Ernaux was born on 1 September 1940 in Lillebonne, but spent her childhood in Yvetot, Normandy. Coming from a modest social background, she studied letters, became a certified professor and then an associate of modern letters. His first novel, Les Armoires vides (1974), already announced the autobiographical character of his work. Combining personal experience with the great History, his works construct a literary work «self-biographical».