This strange, and, at times, overpowering novel tells the story of
a daughter's tortured struggle to understand herself outside of the
fiery, all-consuming identity of her poetess mother. Astrid
Magnussen has inherited her mother, Ingrid's striking Nordic
beauty, alertness to the poetry of all things, and extraordinary
expressive powers (though her instincts lie in art, not in verse).
These qualities may always link Astrid to Ingrid, but they also
bind them together in an oppressive, damaging relationship. Astrid
must fight to recover from her hellish childhood and adolescence.
During this ordeal, both the reader and the heroine begin to wonder
if our heritage is ultimately our destiny.

For Astrid, at least, we should hope not. Her mother lives life
recklessly and strenuously, and her epic personality is always in
unrelenting pursuit of the Muse. Aspiring violently toward
transcendence doesn't prove to be the prescription for an
emotionally available mother. Despite the mournful neglect of her
child, Astrid clings helplessly to her, because she is
Astrid's only home. But Ingrid's behavioral and emotional excesses
inevitably force her into a confrontation with conventional
society. Murdering a scornful ex-lover lands her in prison for
life, and forces Astrid to shuttle off to a series of mostly
dreadful Los Angeles foster homes, where her wounding, but
empowering experiences, punctuated by the tricky letters from her
jailed, indefatigable mother, form the bulk of the long
novel.

Fitch's writing is almost maniacally poetic, piling simile upon
metaphor upon simile, and forming, ultimately, a shivery, often
gorgeous, narrative. This, compounded with sophisticated
philosophical and artistic allusions and quiet observation of
tragicomic detail, builds an unmistakable voice for Astrid, one
which is both the voice of a yearning artist and of an aching
human. Ultimately, Astrid's redemption lies in her recognition that
both these identities are dependent on the other, art feeding
compassion, compassion feeding art.