Girl

In the 1960s, in Rouen, in northern France, Laurence Barraqué grows up, together with her sister, in a middle-class family. Her father is a doctor; her mother, a housewife. From an early age, the little girl realises that a girl's place in life is considered inferior to a boy's. Her father, moreover, when asked during a census whether he had children, is quick to reply: "No. I have two daughters."

Years later, upon becoming a mother, Laurence will confront the meaning of being a girl, of having a girl, and of the legacies that must be passed on or undone.

The French author Camille Laurens, with the skill of an award-winning novelist and essayist, among them the Prix Femina, one of the most prestigious Gallic distinctions in Literature, masterfully explores the subtleties of the devaluation of women in society. Menina is an intimate account of the challenges of female undervaluation and an essential work on the transmission of values.