Marie de Gournay was eighteen when she first read Michel de Montaigne's essays. She was overcome, and had to be revived with hellebore. Montaigne made her his 'adopted daughter', and later, when he died, de Gournay assumed the role of editor of his work. But she assumed rather more than this as well, and her efforts to ensure that she herself came to be cast in a good light in the essays was to lead to disastrous consequences. In her new novel Jenny Diski describes this passionate and complex relationship between 'father and daughter', writer and acolyte, author and reader. In Diski's hands it becomes a fascinating morality tale, exploring the nature of authorship and originality, their sources and their consequences.