A memoir and meditation on the themes of separation and silence, The Summer of the Elder Tree was Marie Chaix''s first book to appear in fourteen years, and deals with the reasons for her withdrawal from writing and the events in her life since the death of her mother (as detailed in Silences, or a Woman''s Life). With uncompromising sincerity, and in the same beautiful prose for which she is renowned, Marie Chaix here takes stock of her life as a woman and writer, as well as the crises that caused her to give up her work. The Summer of the Elder Tree has its roots in Chaix''s previous books while standing alone as a work of immense power: a new beginning.