Lili is Crying

Lili is Crying, Hélène Bessette's debut novel, originally published in France in 1953 and translated into English here for the first time, explores the fraughtness and depth of a troubling mother-daughter relationship, the pain of thwarted love and the promise of renewal.

Lili is Crying, Hélène Bessette's debut novel, explores the fraughtness and depth of the troubling relationship between Lili and her mother Charlotte. With a near-mythic quality, Bessette's stripped-back prose evokes at once the pain of thwarted love – of desire run cold – and the promise of renewal. Lauded by critics on its initial publication in 1953 for its boundary-pushing style, Lili is Crying marked the beginning of a singular writing career. Bessette's work is translated into English for the first time here by Windham-Campbell Prize-winning author and translator Kate Briggs.