Sunday, February 15, 2026

Change: A Novel by Edouard Louis – ‘Harrowing and profound’

DTNZ will receive a commission for purchases made through the links on this page, which helps to support our work.

In his autobiographical novel Change, Édouard Louis, recognised as one of the most significant voices of his generation, delves into themes of social class, transformation, and the challenges of escaping one’s past.

Louis’s life is dominated by a single, burning question: how can he escape the poverty, discrimination, and violence of his working-class hometown? To find his answer, he leaves for school in Amiens and later attends university in Paris.

Determined to leave “Eddy” behind, he adopts an elegant new identity and immerses himself in a world far removed from his roots. He devours books, mingles with aristocrats, and navigates a complex social landscape that includes both millionaires and drug-dealers. Driven by an obsession to reinvent himself, Louis’s journey is a relentless pursuit of transformation.

Change is more than a personal narrative; it is a profound exploration of dreams and the intense struggle of breaking away from one’s origins. Louis’s story offers a poignant and vivid depiction of a society fragmented by class, power, and inequality, capturing the beautiful yet violent process of self-reinvention.

Buy your copy of Change by Edouard Louis at Amazon.com.

Latest

Wellington Water Chair resigns after sewage crisis

Wellington Water chair Nick Leggett has resigned after the Moa Point treatment plant failure led to about 70 million litres of untreated sewage being...

Are school policy providers quietly re‑writing New Zealand’s human rights law?

SchoolDocs is used by approximately 80-85% of schools in New Zealand. We found them referencing 'gender identity' in a misleading way. Across New Zealand, school...

Scotland dominate England in electric Calcutta Cup clash at Murrayfield

Scotland responded emphatically to their recent Six Nations loss to Italy, overpowering England with a high-intensity, bonus-point 31-20 victory in a Calcutta Cup showdown...

How the Super Bowl turned into an all-American identity crisis

This year’s half-time show was so chock-full of liberal agenda, conservatives decided to create their own alternative. There weren’t just two football teams going head-to-head...

Zelensky fat-shames Hungarian PM in public insult

Kiev’s fight against Russia allows the Hungarian prime minister to “grow his belly” instead of an army, the Ukrainian leader has claimed. Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky...

Fatal crash: Ruatangata West, Whangarei

One person has died after being ejected from a vehicle, following a single-vehicle crash on Knight Road last night. Emergency services were notified of the...

Beijing vows action after CIA spy video targets Chinese military

The US agency recently published a clip urging Chinese military officers to become informants. China will take “all necessary measures” to fight infiltration and sabotage...

Sailors injured after high-speed SailGP collision forces race abandonment in Auckland

Two sailors, one from New Zealand’s Black Foils and one from France, were hospitalised after a high-speed collision during race three of the New...