A meditation on the themes of separation and silence, The Summer of the
Elder Tree was Marie Chaix's first book to appear in fourteen years, and
deals with the reasons for her withdrawal from writing, as well as the
events in her life since the death of her mother (as detailed in
Silences, or a Woman's Life). With uncompromising sincerity, and in the
same beautiful prose for which she is renowned, Marie Chaix here takes
stock of her life as a woman and writer, as well as the crises that
caused her to give up her work. The Summer of the Elder Tree has its
roots in Chaix's previous books while standing alone as a work of
immense power: a new beginning