Synopses & Reviews
Review
"The outline of this fascinating novel is provided by a very brief account of a case in Carl Jung's autobiography in which the psychoanalyst describes a strange onetime meeting with a mysterious woman seeking his help. The author sees that account as 'curiously incomplete' and seeks here, by blending truth and speculation, to fill out the story. Set in the year 1913, with Europe moving to unleash the horrors of the First World War, the book provides a glimpse, as only a novel can, into the souls of a tormented woman and her equally troubled interlocutor. While it may be difficult for the reader to identify with the characters— perhaps only because it is not easy to face up to the dark side of one's soul—this novel addresses some of the most puzzling paradoxes of human nature." Reviewed by Daniel Weiss, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review)