The Life, Aging, and Death of a Working-Class Woman

Didier Eribon

A few years ago, Didier Eribon's mother began to lose her physical and mental independence. After months of resistance, Eribon and his siblings were forced to place her in foster care. A few weeks later, his mother died.

In *The Life, Old Age, and Death of a Working-Class Woman*, Eribon continues the historical, political, and personal reflections he began in *Return to Reims*, this time turning his attention to the end of life. Tracing his mother's rapid decline, Eribon draws on the work of Simone de Beauvoir, Norbert Elias, Annie Ernaux, Michel Foucault, and others, transforming his anger, grief, and shame over her death into a nuanced and moving portrait of the woman who raised him. Here, Eribon asks: How does our society treat the elderly? What is the place of bodies that are no longer capable of gathering, discussing freedom, or protesting? Can those who are entirely dependent on others speak for themselves—and if not, who can speak for them?

This is an honest, original, and wide-ranging exploration of the relationship between aging and class, politics and literature, and a profound meditation on a fundamental, and often overlooked, human experience.