Astragal
Anne jumps from a prison wall and shatters her ankle, the astragale of the title, then drags herself to the roadside where a thief named Julien finds her and hides her away. What follows is a story of life on the run, told in fierce, lyrical prose, as Anne moves between hideouts, returns to sex work to survive, and falls into a charged romance with Julien. Albertine Sarrazin drew on her own life as a fugitive and prisoner, and the book made her a literary celebrity in France when it appeared in 1965. Patti Smith, who wrote an introduction for a later edition, called it a touchstone. It was a Library Science pick by Kaia Gerber.
What you might want to know about Astragal
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
A young woman breaks her ankle leaping from a prison wall to freedom, and is taken in by a small-time criminal she comes to love while on the run.
It draws heavily on Albertine Sarrazin's own life as a prisoner and fugitive, though it is published and read as a novel.
Patti Smith has long cited the book as an influence and wrote an introduction for a reissued English-language edition. Kaia Gerber later chose it for her book club Library Science.
Astragal was written by Albertine Sarrazin, published in 1965 by New Directions.
Astragal is 192 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Astragal takes most readers 3 to 4 hours to finish.
Astragal is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
