In this novel, first published in 1991, Marie Ndiaye explores what it means to be a stranger in one's own family.

For many years, family celebrations have taken place without Aunt Leda, and no one has heard from her in a long time. Still, she's often spoken of fondly. If I find Aunt Leda, Fanny thinks, surely everyone would be really grateful to me? Maybe then they would forget what happened when I was born?
Accompanied by her cousin Eugene, Fanny goes in search of her aunt, passing through many hostile villages. She dies for the first time along the way, only to come back to life in a form that might be more acceptable to the other people in her region, or at least, she hopes so.