Violette Leduc
Violette Leduc was born in Arras, France, in 1907, the illegitimate daughter of a serving girl who would later blame Violette for her personal misfortunes. She was sent to boarding school, from which she was eventually expelled after her affairs with a female pupil and a tutor were discovered. Her 1964 memoir La Bâtarde, a frank depiction of lesbianism, poverty and loneliness, sold over 150,000 copies and nearly won the Prix Goncourt. Leduc died in 1972.
