Jacqueline Arpman (born 1929) is one of the most prominent contemporary Belgian prose writers, a practicing psychoanalyst, a member of the Belgian Society of Psychoanalysis and the International Association of Psychoanalysis, the author of 19 novels, numerous articles and essays, and the winner of a number of prestigious literary awards. The action in the novel takes place in our days, the narrative is told from the perspective of the main character, who has become an accidental witness to the difficult life of one noble family, consisting of women of three generations, who, in order to preserve their ancient family home, commit a crime. Looking into the hidden corners of the heroes' souls, the author poses eternal problems for his readers: moral values, good and evil, crime and punishment. Until the last pages, the novel keeps the reader in suspense, forcing him to wait for the denouement at every turn of the plot.