Emma grew up in Indiana feeling like the ugly duckling of the family—the third daughter of a high school beauty queen and football star who had two older daughters with perfect teeth, flawless complexions, and gorgeous hair. She felt left out. Then one day she met Clark Oden, who made her feel special. But she pushed him away and with her cousin, Kalie, drove away in a Datsun with a “California or bust” sign. At eighteen years old, she was going on her first adult adventure, but she kept thinking of Clark. When she found out he was engaged, she wondered how he could love someone else if he had loved her. Then she realized the answer: because she’d ended it. Against all odds, Clark and Emma got back together after seeing each other at a funeral, with Clark calling off his engagement. But about a year after their reunion, Emma could not shake the feeling that something was missing, and once again, she broke it off. Over the years, however, she thought of Clark often, but it wasn’t until nine years later that she heard from him again, just before he went off to war as a married man.

イザベル・デュカノン著『The Box』は、愛の物語の皮を被った自己喪失と再生の記録です。家族の中で「醜いアヒルの子」として育ったエマの劣等感は、幸福を手放す破壊的衝動へと繋がり、読者の胸を締め付けます。自分を愛せない魂の彷徨が、痛々しくも鮮烈に綴られています。 再会と別離を繰り返す二人の歩みは、若さの過ちと、失って気づく価値という普遍的テーマを浮き彫りにします。戦地からの便りが示す時間の不可逆性は、人生の選択の重さを問います。不器用な魂が辿り着く終着点を、ぜひその目で見届けてください。