Summary

The first chapter in the book gives away the narrative climax of the story. Before we know anything else about the characters or this world, we are told that a baby boy is dead and a little girl is fatally wounded. The omniscient narrator describes the apartment, which in disarray. The police document the scene. They lead the screaming mother from the building. They take the nanny, who had tried and failed to kill herself after killing the children, away in the ambulance. Neighbors crowd around and watch the scene. Earlier that day, Myriam, the mother, had decided to come home early and surprise her children. She had brought them and their nanny special desserts from the bakery, even bringing the nanny an orange cake: her favorite. But when she got home, her son was dead and her daughter was soon to be...