In recurring dreams, a young woman encounters her deceased mother in her fragrant apple cellar. The reality during the day is less forgiving: with her husband, the eccentric Orion, and their daughter, she finds herself in a life-threatening situation. Despite the wonderfully quirky people who inhabit her village, the lively celebrations, and the stories told here, the young woman increasingly realizes that she must escape. A summer drags on until she finally finds the courage to reveal the whole truth of her plans to her daughter. "Gertrud Leutenegger's prose... is meditative and at the same time, in every subordinate clause, every syntactic movement, every train of thought, filled with tremendous dynamism.".