"A tour de force. Sue Miller goes straight to the dark heart of the matter of modern sexual morality." —Russell Banks Sue Miller’s critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller about a woman torn between motherhood and sexual freedom, sacrifice and responsibility After an amicable divorces, piano teacher Anna Dunlap has built an independent life in New England for herself and her four-year-old daughter, Molly. It's all Anna thinks she needs. Until she meets Leo Cutter, an artist who makes her feel desired, unabashedly sexual, and filled with certitude and passion for the first time. All it takes is a single unguarded moment for Anna's perfect world to implode, Leveling shocking charges against Leo, Anna's ex-husband crashes back into Anna's life and takes Molly with him. When it thrusts Anna into a public and ugly custody battle, she is forced to defend her choices, to confront the damage done by the choices of others, and to prove herself, against seemingly unpardonable odds, a good mother.

本書は、母性という聖域と個人の欲望が衝突した際の残酷な代償を抉り出した傑作です。著者は、主人公の覚醒と絶望を精緻に描き、良き母という規範がいかに女性を縛るかを痛感させます。平穏な日常が一瞬の情熱で瓦解する様は、現代の道徳が抱える歪みを鋭く突きつけ、読者の価値観を激しく揺さぶります。 映像版では法廷劇の緊迫感が際立ちますが、原作の真髄は内面にある言葉にできない葛藤にあります。映画が事件を可視化する一方で、小説は沈黙や躊躇といった魂の揺らぎを深く描写します。両者を味わうことで、幸福と責任の相克という正解のない問いが、より鮮烈にあなたの胸を打つに違いありません。