She expressed some doubts as to whether her daughter had really said the things transcribed by the nurses. There is no way of knowing, of course. The woman’s mother lives in a nightmare, a labyrinth of uncertainty and of hopeless love, her daughter both alive and dead. Behind her daughter’s rigid, expressionless face, is she in fact awake? Is she aware, in some way, of what is going on outside her paralysed body? Are the nurses inventing her letters – wittingly or unwittingly? Does their faith deceive them? Can we ever know?
