Graduated from the École du Louvre, Louise returned to Lyon, where she grew up. She managed to land a fixed-term contract at an art foundation. With her strict and perfect look, she believes she has control over her life and keeps chaos at bay. But the worst part would be that she resembles her mother, Nadia, a whimsical and unpredictable theater woman who left the family home when Louise was twelve to pursue in England the brilliant career she had never had in France. When Nadia suddenly dies in a car accident, Louise must decide whether to allow the play—perhaps inspired by her mother’s diary, which had torn them apart—to be staged again.
Determined to confront the past, Louise travels to Bristol, the city that welcomed Nadia, and discovers in her mother—a figure both idolized and resented—a more nuanced, more authentic, and more elusive image than ever. What if everything she thought she knew about freedom, creativity, social classes, and feminism turns out to be false?
