This is the story of Edouard, Stephane, and the spirited girl they find alone and apparently lost in Paris. When the two men offer the young Quebec girl shelter for the night, their lives are profoundly and irrevocably changed.

Stephane falls quickly for Delphine, but Edouard, a man without expectations who hides from the world in a life of mediocrity and whose only desire is to live and die quietly, is slower to accept her. He is disturbed by Delphine's abrupt arrival in his life, her strange accent, her excessive passion. Then, just as he opens himself to her exuberance and vulnerability, he is torn violently from her and left to unravel the mysteries of her sudden presence and absence.

Anne Hebert's fifth novel in translation (originally published under the title Est-ce que je te derange?) springs from a place between dream and reality, and offers a disturbing look into the workings of fascination and obsession. Tortured love, broken childhoods, and the forces of nature and death are woven into this extraordinary, poetic tale from one of Canada's most important writers.

Anne Hébert was born on August 1, 1916 in Sainte-Catherine-de-Fossambault, a small village 40 kilometres from Quebec City. When she died in January 2000, she was one of Canada's most highly acclaimed and successful literary stars.

Anne Hébert's profile page

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• Short-listed, Scotiabank Giller Prize