Autofiction by the famous French writer Maryse Conde about difficult relationships with her husband, lovers, their relatives and her own children against the backdrop of political struggle. An unembellished autobiography, where the writer risks appearing as a “lying, unfaithful, adulterous wife” and a woman who prefers lovers to her children. A constant pursuit of either happiness, or simply life, and a lack of understanding of others. “I simply don’t see the point in creating works that do not represent a political statement.” Maryse Condé - alternative Nobel Prize laureate, journalist, taught in Guinea, Cote- d'Ivoire, Ghana (from where she was expelled for her Marxist views), Senegal, France and the USA. The themes of slavery, racism, sexism, violence and colonialism were and remain constant guests of her novels, and her heroines carry a rebellious spirit. Maryse Conde’s prose - whether novels or auto-fiction - is always a deep exploration of oneself, a study of the ancestral myth, which brings her closer with African literary traditions, but also a political statement. “Life as It Is” is published in a brilliant translation by Elena Klokova.