A Life of Her Own

Emilie Carles (1900–1979) was a French educator, memoirist, and activist. She is best known for her popular autobiography Une soupe aux herbes sauvages (A Life of Her Own), which was translated in several languages and made into a biopic. Her memoir chronicles her life as a farmer, teacher, and resident of the small Alpine village of Val-des-Prés, and mirrors the changes in attitude and the tribulations of many other French villages faced in the twentieth century.

Robert Destanque is a French filmmaker and novelist. In 1977, he collaborated with Emilie Carles in the publication of her bestselling memoir, Une soupe aux herbes sauvages (A Life of Her Own), and helped to adapt it into a film.