The Child Who

'A poetic exploration of the presence of absence in a family's life, tracking grief in all its melancholy intangibility. Jeanne Benameur writes with uncommon beauty, perceptiveness and subtlety.’ ― Rónan Hession, author of Leonard and Hungry Paul 


‘Mystical. A slow hand walking you into a forest. I come to it to think about loss, absence and longing, what can never be ours.’ ― Tice Cin, author of Keeping the House 


'Aching, tender and luminous, The Child Who explores the splitting of the self that can occur in response to grief. Finding beauty even in the most painful dynamics, this is a humane and moving story touched by a transcendent lyricism. You will be haunted by it.' ― Jessica Traynor, author of The Quick 


‘Prose that approximates the condition of poetry… Benameur’s particular strength lies in her ability to give a distinctive voice to the voiceless.’ ― Michael Cronin, Irish Times 


The Child Who carves out the areas where language falls short: loss, desire, and the urge to leave are at the core of this enigmatic portrait of family secrets. Set out of time, the narrative traces the grief of a child who has lost a parent. It also conjures the age-old patterns of village life caught in tension with an outsider’s nomadic instincts. Benameur offers a lyrical exploration of nature’s power to heal, while posing the question of where tolerance and hospitality begin, and where love and acceptance of the other ends.