Violette Toussaint is the caretaker of a cemetery in Burgundy, where she lives in a lodge by the gate. She grows flowers on the graves, offers tea to the bereaved, and learns the stories of people who come to visit. When a police officer named Julien Seul asks for his late mother's ashes to be buried in the grave of a man he has never heard of, the arrangement exposes a mystery that threatens the peace she has built. Valerie Perrin tells the story in two time frames, giving us the gradual disclosure of Violette's past, with its pain and its odd moments of joy.
It will suit readers who like their fiction emotional and slow, and who find comfort in tales about grief and community.
Inward-looking; an easy read.
Best for readers like The Empathetic Explorer. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2018
- Language
- EN
