In Nancy Huston’s new novel the characters participate in a legal hearing of a highly singular variety, unfolding outside of real time and place. They each give testimony in front of a mysterious magistrate who turns out to be none other than the reader herself or himself, presenting their respective and often contradictory version of the death—and life—of a certain Cosmo. Among the witnesses are a number of dead people, the novelist, a Lebanese cedar, a wisteria, a footbridge, and a gorgeous Algerian knife (probably the murder weapon). Cosmo is the only character whose voice is never heard, but his portrait is gradually sketched out and coloured in by the stories and memories of others in his village. Vivid and original, Nancy Huston’s An Adoration is a tour de force certain to resonate with fans of Chocolat and Amélie.
