Anna's World — Marie-Claire Blais

Exploring contemporary life and the penetrating energy of youth, this novel follows Anna, an introspective, alienated teenager without hope. Anna and her friend Michelle have experienced what life today has to offer -- they have experimented with drugs and sex and have taken dance and music lessons in an attempt to find some meaning in their existence -- and yet they have rejected its premise and instead remain alone and empty. Chilling and often terrifying, this chronicle portrays two young women who are not bored but are instead without hope of finding peace or even living long enough to begin the search.