PARIS — A new English translation of "Élisabeth," the only novel written by director Éric Rohmer, has been published by McNally Editions. Aaron Kerner translated the work into English.

Rohmer, whose birth name was Maurice Schérer, began writing the novel in 1939 when he was 18 years old. He finished the manuscript in the summer of 1944. The Parisian publishing house Gallimard released the book in 1946 under the pseudonym Gilbert Cordier.

Rohmer recalled in an interview that he wrote the novel while confined to his room during the liberation of Paris. "It was precisely then, trapped in my room, not even daring to put my nose to the windowpane, that I wrote 'Élisabeth,'" Rohmer said. He also reflected on the timing of his writing, adding, "And as I did, I was asking myself: 'Is it even possible to write about what's unfolding at present?'" Rohmer concluded, "My answer was: 'No, it's not—you need to take a step back.'" Meanwhile, in his earlier life, Schérer worked as a teacher of Greek and Latin.

The narrative of "Élisabeth" is set in August 1939 and is told in three sections. The protagonist is Michel Landeau, an engineer in his early twenties who works at a paint factory in a suburb of Paris. Landeau is engaged to Irène Bergmann, a widow who lives in the town of Percy with her mother. Another character in the novel is Élisabeth Roby, the wife of Dr. Paul Roby, a local doctor in a town near Meaux.