Leïla Slimani has a deep appreciation for solitude, silence, and spending time at home. But, against her own nature, she accepts an invitation to spend the night at the Punta della Dogana Museum, exploring the works of art under the scent of night-blooming roses, and then departing in the morning. In the space of the new and the old, she confronts her past and present, wandering through the memories that defined her as a woman, writer, and daughter.
The engraving on the cover depicts a house in Venice, alluding to the seclusion the author refers to in her writing process, but also to the surroundings where the story takes place. The dark colors evoke the book's nocturnal aspect and the atmosphere of solitude and mystery.
