Marie Darrieussecq’s novel *How to Make a Woman* explores the intertwined lives of two childhood friends, Rose and Solange, charting their divergent paths from the 1980s into adulthood. Beginning in the future, the narrative opens with Rose watching news about Solange, once labeled “the village ugly duckling,” who has transformed into a “Hollywood babe.” The story then moves backwards in time, tracing their formative years in a small Basque village and following their subsequent journeys through Bordeaux, Paris, London, and Los Angeles.
Both characters hail from the Basque region, a setting familiar to Darrieussecq and revisited throughout her body of work. Solange previously appeared in the author’s earlier novels, including *All the Way* and *Men*—the latter earning Darrieussecq the 2013 Prix Médicis. In *How to Make a Woman*, the narrative follows the girls’ maturation into womanhood, portraying how their choices and circumstances shaped their lives.
Rose is depicted as serious and steady, living a life that fulfills conventional expectations. She is deeply in love with her boyfriend Christian and benefits from a stable family background. Meanwhile, Solange is confident in her own allure but struggles with a sense of inertia, lamenting when her life will truly “begin.” At 15, Solange becomes pregnant and raises her son Thierry, who has an unspecified developmental disorder. The character’s relationship to her child is fraught; Solange largely refuses to bond with him, and the child is primarily cared for by her mother, whose depression and emotional complexity adds further strain.
Darrieussecq’s prose, translated by Penny Hueston, offers an intimate and detailed examination of the characters’ experiences, reminiscent of the styles of Annie Ernaux and Eric Rohmer. The novel captures moments of youthful transcendence, such as when Rose attends a concert and feels a sudden lift from the confines of her village life, glimpsing a wider, more complex world beyond.
As adults, Rose chooses stability, studying psychology, marrying Christian despite his struggles with alcoholism, and raising two children. Solange, conversely, seeks to escape the limitations of her hometown and past mistakes by pursuing an acting career. Her journey is marked by hardship, moving through several cities before settling in Los Angeles. Despite achieving a degree of success, her accomplishments carry a sense of cost and loneliness, illustrated by a poignant reunion at a film premiere in Los Angeles, where the women reflect on their enduring but uneven friendship.
*How to Make a Woman* delves into the evolving dynamics of Rose and Solange’s relationship, portraying a bond that remains unresolved and asymmetrical. Though they never fully reach the same emotional plane, their lives remain connected across time and distance through memories and unspoken communications. The novel offers a nuanced study of friendship, identity, and the contrasting routes that emerge from shared origins.