100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿

Thanks for supporting our NZ-owned independent bookstore ❤️ Overnight NZ Delivery 🚀

La Batarde

By Violette Leduc
Series: Dalkey Essentials Series
0.0 (0 reviews)
4.09 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating. ( 1,076 ratings, 125 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
La Batarde by Violette LeDuc is a daring autobiographical novel that delves into the author's turbulent life from her illegitimate birth to her journey of self-discovery. Set against the backdrop of a changing France, the narrative explores LeDuc’s complex relationships, her quest for identity, and her struggle for acceptance and freedom. It's a raw and intimate portrayal of a woman's relentless pursuit of truth and authenticity.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$5200

International Supplier

This title is in-stock with overseas suppliers. While it is not available locally, we fly books in weekly from the US and UK to our Auckland warehouse for immediate dispatch.

AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 2-3 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you're drawn to powerful autobiographical narratives rich with emotion and introspection. This work offers a candid exploration of identity, belonging, and the struggles of an outsider, all delivered through lyrical prose. It may appeal to readers interested in complex character studies and the human condition.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

An obsessive and revealing self-portrait of a remarkable woman humiliated by the circumstances of her birth and by her physical appearance, La Bâtarde relates Violette Leduc's long search for her own identity through a series of agonising and passionate love affairs with both men and women.

When first published, La Bâtarde earned Violette Leduc comparisons to Jean Genet for the frank depiction of her sexual escapades and immoral behaviour. A confession that contains portraits of several famous French authors, this book is more than just a scintillating memoir—like that of Henry Miller, Leduc's brilliant writing style and attention to language transform this autobiography into a work of art.

Series: Dalkey Essentials Series

View all
  • Chimera
    A National Book Award winner, this bawdy, comic trio of novellas finds John Barth injecting his signature wit into three tales many times told: that of Scheherazade, storyteller of the Thousand and One Nights; of Perseus, slayer of Medusa; and of Bellerophon, rider of Pegasus and slayer of the Chimera. Chimera presents these ancient stories with a contemporary twist, blending...
    By John Barth
    Paperback
    $4800
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks
  • La Batarde
    An obsessive and revealing self-portrait of a remarkable woman humiliated by the circumstances of her birth and by her physical appearance, La Bâtarde relates Violette Leduc's long search for her own identity through a series of agonising and passionate love affairs with both men and women. When first published, La Bâtarde earned Violette Leduc comparisons to Jean Genet for the...
    By Violette Leduc
    Paperback
    $5200
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks
  • Nobodaddy's Children
    Nobodaddy's Children is a trilogy of novels that traces life in Germany from the Nazi era through the postwar years and into an apocalyptic future. Scenes from the Life of a Faun recounts the dreary life of a government worker who escapes the banality of war by researching the exploits of a deserter from the Napoleonic Wars nicknamed The Faun....
    By Arno Schmidt
    Paperback
    $5100
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks
  • Point Counter Point
    Aldous Huxley's lifelong concern with the dichotomy between passion and reason finds its fullest expression both thematically and formally in his masterpiece Point Counter Point. By presenting a vision of life in which diverse aspects of experience are observed simultaneously, Huxley characterises the symptoms of "the disease of modern man" in the manner of a composer—themes and characters are repeated,...
    By Aldous Huxley
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • The Making of Americans
    In The Making of Americans, Gertrude Stein sets out to tell a history of a family's progress, radically reworking the traditional family saga novel to encompass her vision of personality and psychological relationships. As the history progresses over three generations, Stein also meditates on her own writing, on the making of The Making of Americans, and on America.
    By Gertrude Stein
    Paperback
    Sold Out

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

La Batarde by Violette Leduc is acclaimed for its evocative and intense writing, with Leduc’s style mirrored by her pursuit of the perfect expression. Critics note its raw and candid portrayal of experiences that reflect themes akin to the works of Sartre, Genet, and de Beauvoir, conveyed with vivid, emotional clarity. The narrative is recognised for its unflinching honesty, resonating with readers who are drawn to its daring and unconventional storytelling.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781628974577

Publisher: Dalkey Archive Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 10 August 2023

Country: United States

Imprint: Dalkey Archive Press

Illustration: Illustrations

Contributors:

  • Translated by Derek Coltman
  • Introduction by Deborah Levy
  • Foreword by Simone de Beauvoir

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 140.0mm

Height: 216.0mm

Weight: 250g

Collections

Fiction General Fiction Literary Fiction Series: Dalkey Essentials Series Violette Leduc

About the Author

Violette Leduc(1907-1972) has been referred to as "France's greatest unknown writer." Admired by Jean Genet, Nathalie Sarraute, and Albert Camus, Leduc was championed by Simone de Beauvoir when she published her scandalous autobiographyLa Batarde(1964). LikeTherese and Isabelle, many of her audacious novels are largely inspired by her life. She is the subject of Martin Provost's biopic,Violette(2013).

Derek Coltman has translated such French works as Marie-Claire Blais sA Season in the Life of Emmanuel, Jean Varenne sYoga and the Hindu Tradition, and Violette Leduc'sLa Batarde. He lives in England.

Also by Violette LeDuc

View all
  • The Lady and the Little Fox Fur
    A quirky and compassionate tale of a woman's solitary wanderings through 1960s Paris, with an introduction by Deborah Levy. The Lady and the Little Fox Fur is an existential feminist classic about an old woman who lives alone in a tiny attic flat in Paris, where she counts out coffee beans every morning beneath the roar of the overhead metro....
    By Violette Leduc
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks

More from General Fiction

View all
  • The Wedding People
    'BEST READ OF THE YEAR SO FAR' THE TIMES 'BOOKS AS FUN AS THIS ONE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN' GUARDIAN Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel in Rhode Island wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people — but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall...
    By Alison Espach
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Throne of Glass Box Set (Paperback)
    Enter the realm. Unleash the darkness. Live the legend. Discover the worldwide phenomenon of the #1 New York Times-bestselling Throne of Glass series in this gorgeous 8-book box set! In a land without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She has no love for the vicious king who rules from his throne of glass, but she has not...
    By Sarah J. Maas
    Set
    $12400
    Elsewhere:
    $15500
    (6)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Goal
    Welcome to Briar U!Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy!Read The Goal now for the perfect forced proximity romance! She's good at achieving her goals . . . College senior Sabrina James has her whole future planned out: graduate from college, kick...
    By Elle Kennedy
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Red Rising
    The first book in the incredible New York Times bestselling series Darrow is a Helldiver, toiling beneath the surface of Mars. As a member of the Red caste, he performs grueling labor in the belief that his sacrifice will enable future generations to one day inhabit the surface of the Red Planet. The Reds are humankind's lowest caste, living in...
    By Pierce Brown
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    The Ballad of Falling Dragons [Special Deluxe edition]
    The No.1 Sunday Times bestselling sensation When the Moon Hatched continues with the second book in The Moonfall Series, The Ballad of Falling Dragons… Raeve’s thirst for vengeance continues to burn, as does her love for Kaan Vaegor – a staunch beacon from a past she’s yet to face. With Rekk’s blood still fresh on her hands, she learns the...
    By Sarah A. Parker
    Hardback
    $5999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Score
    Welcome to Briar U! Get ready for your newest obsession... Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy! Read The Score now for the perfect friends with benefits romance! He knows how to score, on and off the ice... Allie Hayes is in crisis mode. With graduation looming, she still doesn't have...
    By Elle Kennedy
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Dylan's Pick Dylan's Pick
    Theo of Golden
    THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING PHENOMENON'For anything to be truly good, there must be love in it. Nothing is what it's supposed to be if love is not at the core.' One morning, a stranger arrives in the town of Golden. No one knows who he is or where he came from…His name is Theo and he's arrived there by chance –...
    By Allen Levi
    Paperback
    $2899
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    (5)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Golden Son
    ENDER'S GAME meets THE HUNGER GAMES in this, the second in an extraordinary trilogy from an incredible new voice.'I'm still playing games. This is just the deadliest yet.' Darrow is a rebel forged by tragedy. For years he and his fellow Reds worked the mines, toiling to make the surface of Mars inhabitable. They were, they believed, mankind's last hope....
    By Pierce Brown
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Project Hail Mary
    Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, the SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of The Martian, offers a gripping new adventure in hard science fiction. With endorsement from notable figures such as Barack Obama and a slew of five-star reviews, this novel promises a thrilling and intellectually stimulating journey. Ryland Grace, a lone astronaut, finds himself on a...
    By Andy Weir
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    (4)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Voracious
    From USA Today bestselling author and TikTok sensation comes the gripping, steamy dark romance series that everyone is talking about!'Filled with TENSION, HEARTBREAK and ELECTRIC CHEMISTRY. This one will tear your heart right out of your chest before tossing it back in and sewing you up' No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Brynne Weaver'Leigh Rivers is THE QUEEN OF...
    By Leigh Rivers
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Mistake
    Welcome to Briar U! Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy! Read The Mistake now for the perfect second chance romance! He's a player in more ways than one . . . College junior John Logan can get any girl he wants....
    By Elle Kennedy
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    On Mystic Lake
    One of the greatest storytellers of our time - Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing Annie Colwater's only child has just left home for school in England. On that same day, her husband of twenty years confesses that he's in love with a younger woman. Left alone in the beautiful California house which was once a home, Annie...
    By Kristin Hannah
    Paperback
    $3100
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships today

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.

General Fiction lists from the team

Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!

The Latest at Book Hero

View all