The Japanese Quince Tree

Ninety-year-old Clotilda Grosu is haunted by her regrets day and night. Her advice is to think 10 times before you do anything. "Never have a regret. With regrets, your life will be unhappy." Her life goes by slowly, all alone in her house. She reads a bit, cooks, waters her flowers and talks to her cats. At night, she takes her blood pressure. In the silence, she thinks of her dead son, who never forgave her for his forced marriage. "God punished me," she says. "I ended up alone." But she keeps herself amused, nonetheless. Clotilda is still extremely lucid and observes her small world with quick wit and eloquence. She talks to her animals and plants, enjoys her garden and keeps a close eye on the weather. She passes judgment on TV shows, her books and her life, and she points out the things that are even older than she is, whether it's a tree or a carpet-beater. Like an old Eastern philosopher, she finds the deepest meaning in the smallest things.