The Looking Glass: A Novel

An orphan enchanted by stories and the incantatory power of words Genevieve lives an isolated existence as a maid to the widow Patin in a village cafe on the Normandy coast in the early 20th century. Forced to flee the village she comes under the spell of a charismatic spinner of words a poet who captivates every woman around him -- his mother his mistress his niece his nieces governess and eventually his new maid who soon begins to spin a story of her own.