Absence

A masterful debut that dramatizes the role of the unconscious in artistic creation and the power of unconditional love, in a split narrative alternating between two points of view: that of a painter drawn to depict an unknown female figure who keeps on appearing under his brush, and that an anonymous woman addressing letters to an absent loved one. In deeply felt and moving images, Lucie Paye forges an intrigue that tells of redemption and the lies which destroy lives, all the while directing her reader, and her characters, with a deftness reminiscent of the Master of Suspense in Rear Window