Marie NDiaye offers a generational story of a family of women who seem to be living under a cloud of ill fortune. Narrator Tavia Gilbert illuminates the thoughts and emotions of Ladivine Sylla, an immigrant to France from a third-world country, as well as those of her female descendants. In this elegant translation by Jordan Stump, Gilbert makes NDiaye’s exquisite lyrical prose breathe as she offers poignant portrayals of each character’s anguish. Ladivine has a daughter who changes her name to Clarisse and passes as white. Clarisse has a child, also named Ladivine, who has little awareness of her black namesake. The women’s lives are fraught with turmoil and all tend to end badly. Mysteries unfold, and time is fluid in this challenging novel, but Gilbert’s holds us captive throughout. AudioFile Magazine

In this French tale of family secrets, three generations of women withhold the truth from each other. Ashamed of her single mother, Malinka escapes from home as a teen, changes her name to Clarisse, marries the doting Richard, and names their daughter Ladivine after her mother, who knows nothing of Clarisse’s new life. When Clarisse is brutally murdered, her mother, daughter, and ex-husband struggle with their own secret choices as they wait for the upcoming trial. Gilbert reads with the fluidity and ease of the experienced narrator. She handles French and German dialogue with skill and is particularly good at narrating conversations of the children and young adults. This complex novel is full of interior monologues that Gilbert narrates with care and thoughtfulness, helping the listener to see into the welter of thoughts and emotions of the characters. Booklist