Das brennende Mädchen

Julia cannot remember a time when she didn't know Cassie. They have been friends for so long that Julia finds it hard to understand how they became estranged. There was no defining event to help her make sense of it, so she reflects on the small changes. Julia grows up in a loving home, while Cassie's family has always been incomplete. She has never met her father, and the new boyfriend of her mother, who suddenly intrudes into her life, only makes this gap more painfully apparent. She embarks on a tumultuous search, during which she risks losing herself. Claire Messud explores what binds us as human beings and why the loss of a first great friendship hurts so deeply.