Abandoned by a succession of relatives, the sisters find themselves in the care of Sylvie, the remote and enigmatic sister of their dead mother. Steeped in imagery of the bleak wintry landscape around them, the sisters' struggle towards adulthood is powerfully portrayed in a novel about loss, loneliness and transience. From the Orange Prize winning author of Home. 'I love and have lived with this book ... it holds a unique and quiet place among the masterpieces of 20th century American fiction' - Paul Bailey. 'I found myself reading slowly, then more slowly -- this is not a novel to be hurried through, for every sentence is a delight' - Doris Lessing.