Turtle: The American Contrition of Franz Ferdinand

19-year-old Anne tells her mother, "Your father tried to rape me." Her mother replies, "It's not his fault. These things happen. You're going to have to learn how to deal with it." This is not a story about rape. This is not a story about how Anne was raped or why Anne was raped or whether or not Anne was raped. This is not a story about the truth. This is a story about deceit and lies and a world of nonsequiturs. This is a story about snow on the ground when it has not snowed. This is a story about a mother who says, "It's not his fault." Herself a young mother, Anne collects facts in an attempt to make her mother's story make sense and reconcile her rural Creole childhood with her suburban Midwestern family's world.