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 unusual economy of expression strange humour and sheer vivacity Lili
is Crying announces Bessette's singular take on the 'poetic novel'. This edition marks the very
first translation of Bessette's work into English by Windham-Campbell Prize-winning author and
translator Kate Briggs.
