This moving fictional memoir begins as a woman heads home after a meeting regarding her inheritance. Numbed by the legalese uttered by the attorney, her mind drifts back to her childhood, and she sees her life with sudden clarity. On the train, she jots down a few notes, which prompt a poetic outpouring of memory and emotion that make up this sparse and delicate novel.

We learn that her life was dominated by the figure of her mother. Labeled “eccentric” or “Italian,” her mother in fact suffered from what was later found to be manic-depression. Without understanding the disease, the family reacted to the ups and downs as they hit, unpredictably. During periods of paralyzing depression she was hospitalized, and the family felt abandoned. During periods of manic productivity and overdrive, they rejoiced at her singing, cooking, and dreaming.

This novel draws the portrait of a grand and unforgettable lady, loving and unable to love at once. Her bequest is as much a material one as it is an emotional one, and, the narrator surmises as she glances at her own daughters, a genetic one . . .