First published 2001
In Depression-era Ontario, two sisters navigate a world that threatens to erase their existence. Iris Chase Griffen, now an elderly woman, unpacks her family's dark history through a manuscript that blends memoir, science fiction, and raw confession. Her sister Laura's mysterious death decades earlier haunts every page. As Iris reveals the intricate layers of her family's wealth, betrayal, and silent suffering, she confronts the brutal economic and social constraints that trapped women of her generation. A story of survival emerges—not through heroic resistance, but through the quiet, dangerous act of remembering.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: unreliable-narrator
Period: Future
521 pages · Paperback · Vintage