Isadora Aberfletch’s eyes once held life and color but are now focused on the past, “veiled by cataracts and melancholy.” Isadora is physically consigned to a care home, but her mind still dwells inside her house in the French countryside, among gardens and woodlands. Its white walls, pointed roof, and fancy windows contain Isadora’s memories and family ghosts. The summer arrivals of aunts, uncles, and cousins meant wine and languor for the adults and free-range days for the cousins in the golden, sparkling outdoors. Summer reminiscences and refrains “vague and distant like a cowbell at the far end of a meadow” light Isadora’s memories. Autumn brought inevitable departures. Winter was when her sister Harriet, fairy-like, decorated, transforming the house into a wonderland. Spring brought cold rain. Isadora’s first-person narration of her inner life and history with her siblings spans generations and examines relationships. Tripier’s writing captivates with a Gothic mood, striking characters, and an untimely death. Translated from French, this award-winning debut unfolds over an engaging quartet of literary, atmospheric chapters.
