In an anonymous French village a boy wanders through a forest with a phantomatic dog. His mother is gone; his father speechless with anger; his grandmother concealing her own story.

‘Jeanne Benameur’s work is carved out of silences. Her characters use few words, while she chooses her own with a parsimony that increases their impact tenfold. Suffused in mystery, this novel about what makes a family, how a personality emerges, how one learns to inhabit the world – is fashioned from a poetry as startling as its title.’ — Le Monde