Then, at the age of forty-five, Edouard's mother frees herself from this life of oppression, to start a new one in Paris. A Woman's Battles and Transformations reckons with the cruel systems that govern our lives - and with the possibility of escape.

It is a tender portrait of a mother, and an honouring of her self-discovery as she chooses to live on her own terms. 'Tash Aw's sensitive translation captures the vividness of Louis's voice... Movingly, the book demonstrates the pain that moving from one social class to another entails