Narrator Nanou, a street prostitute, gives a detailed account of her day, from the moment she wakes up with a foul taste in her mouth, in her sordid rented room, until the minute she crawls back into her bed at night to sleep. Interwoven with her story are portraits of her clients. Oscar Coop-Phane invents an astonishing cast of original and deeply human characters - losers, defeated by the world around them - who seek solace in Nanou's arms. Original and moving, this short book deftly paints a world of solitude and sadness, illuminated by precious moments of tenderness and acts of kindness. "The novel unfolds with a sympathetic clarity that refuses to shy away from both the harsh realities of life and the bits of gentleness and hope that can be found among the shadows."--World Lit. Today, Nov.-Dec. 2014