I Remain in Darkness

Washington Post Top Memoir of 1999

An extraordinary evocation of a grown daughters attachment to her mother, and of both womens strength and resiliency. I Remain in Darkness recounts Annies attempts first to help her mother recover from Alzheimers disease, and then, when that proves futile, to bear witness to the older womans gradual decline and her own experience as a daughter losing a beloved parent. I Remain in Darkness is a new high water mark for Ernaux, surging with raw emotional power and her sublime ability to use language to apprehend her own lifes particular music.