Marthe, 12, lives on a farm with her parents and her little brother, Léonce. Her father, who is borderline autistic, is unspeakably brutal towards their mother. The children have just one obsession: picking wildflowers for their abused mother to bring some sweetness into the poor woman’s life. The two of them stick together as best they can and help each other to overcome the inevitable tragedy. 

Marthe, 16, meets Florent. Through him, she will discover the purity of first love. Their childish games give way to learning each other’s bodies and realizing that people can be gentle, too. Someday, Marthe will teach others the value of the words that their father wants to deprive them of, the happiness of reading and of inventing other realities.

This novella rises brilliantly to the challenge of combining highly poetical language with very simple expression; this is a terribly moving and physical story that draws us elegantly into the heart of a family in which love and the will to live stand up to the power of destruction.
A powerful story exposing the madness and cruelty of domestic violence.