Sometimes she saw her own daughter as a class rival.I longed to leave home. She agreed to let me go to the lycee in Rouen and later to London. She was ready to make any sacrifice if it meant a better life for me. Better than she had known. She even consented to make the greatest sacrifice of all which was to part with me. Away from her scrutiny, I rushed headlong into everything she had forbidden. I stuffed myself with food, then I stopped eating for weeks, until I reached a stateof euphoria. Then I understood what it was to be free. I forgot about our arguments. When I was studying at the arts faculty, I saw her in a simpler light, without the shouting and the violence. I was both certain of her love for me and aware of one blatant injustice: she spent all day selling milk and potatoes ...