At almost 50, Dominique still has a bit of the wild child about her, and is somewhat of a stranger in her own existence. She works for a florist, and in her free time she seeks refuge in a remote spot in the countryside that, from as far back as she can remember, she has always called Grand Paradise. One day, her sister, the pathologically shy Marie, informs her that she is leaving their little beach-resort town: when she moves, she intends to get rid of all the old family letters and photos in her possession. Agreeing to take them, Dominique finds letters her mother wrote to her father after he abandoned them in mysterious circumstances, as well as photos of an ancestor she’s never heard of before: Léontine. One of those striking snapshots – taken by photographer Albert Londe, an associate of the famous Professor Charcot, specialist of hysteria at Pitié Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris – shows Léontine in the throes of a hysterical fit. Fascinated by the image, Dominique decides to search the hospital archives to learn more about hysteria, this distant relation, her family … and herself. Elegant, sensitive writing. A singular voice that introduces readers to Professor Charcot. A family investigation intertwined with a woman’s deeply moving quest for her full identity.