Shame

A dazzling novel which tells the story of a twelve-year-old girl who sees her father attempt to kill her mother. The moment lives inside her, indeed it cuts through her like an axe. Over time, the memory cools until it is just like a snapshot one might carry in a purse but the cut is still there and eventually she finds that her whole being has grown around it like a tree that has been struck by lightning and survived. Over 100,000 copies sold in France.