La hijastra

A woman in her thirties writes mentally, signing with the initial "J", letters with no specific addressee. She usually says goodbye with a formula of the type "Yours, in a fury" or "Yours, without raising your head." Arnold, with whom she is in divorce proceedings, is a renowned lawyer who has left her for a "French girl" and has settled in Paris; he passes her money without sparing and pays her for a luxurious apartment with magnificent views in Manhattan. She now lives there with Renata, the thirteen-year-old daughter Arnold had from a previous marriage, as well as Sally Ann, her own daughter of four, and a French intern named Monique. They all get along fatally, they hardly speak to each other. Renata makes envelope cupcakes. Monique writes letters to real people. "J" envies her for that. For the rest, she never goes out: she takes refuge in the loneliness, anger, resentment and deception that she, with a vicious tongue, recreates in her letters. One day she finally has a conversation with Renata, which leads to surprising revelations and has dramatic consequences.