The Girl from the Chartreuse

One wet afternoon while driving a vanload of books to his shop, Étienne Vollard knocks down a little girl, Éva. Haunted by guilt, Vollard visits Éva in hospital and reads stories to her while she lies in a coma. He also meets Éva's mother, Thérèse, a struggling single parent whose dream is to be faraway and alone. When Éva awakes, the three of them are immediately aware that their lives are forever altered. Pierre Péju’s profound and moving novel is about life, childhood, loneliness and learning to accept and understand our differences.