World Literature Today: "Laurence Cossé contrasts her characters’ lives with respect and an understanding of their often-divergent cultures."

Fadila is a sixty-year-old Moroccan immigrant, and Édith, her employer, is a well-to-do, sophisticated Parisian. The two women form an unlikely but rewarding friendship when Édith attempts to teach Fadila to read and write. The women bridge the many barriers between them with a combination of persistence, curiosity, and humility. Laurence Cossé contrasts her characters’ lives with respect and an understanding of their often-divergent cultures.