First published 1985
Claudia considers herself enlightened about psychology. She brings home broken people like collecting stray cats. Her latest acquisitions include a disheveled woman who shuffles around in hair curlers and a former convict who writes dark poetry. Claudia dumps these misfits on her household without asking. Her elderly mother tolerates the intrusions with weary grace. Her young daughter watches it all unfold. The house fills with tension as these damaged souls clash under one roof. Claudia believes she helps people, but her charity creates chaos. Her mother and daughter pay the price for Claudia's misguided rescue missions. What starts as domestic irritation turns darker. The poet carries secrets from his prison years. The woman in curlers hides her own troubles. Claudia's need to fix broken people will break her family apart.
Genres: domestic-fiction, contemporary, psychological-thriller, family-drama
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
300 pages · Paperback · Diogenes Verlag
Content warnings: mental-illness