Still Life with Iris, by Steven Dietz, is a poignant and imaginative adventure that follows a young girl’s quest for the most essential of all things—home. Iris lives with her mother in the enchanted land of Nocturno, a world where, by night, its inhabitants craft everything that appears in our world by day. In Nocturno, memories are not held in the mind, but rather in garments called “Past Coats,” each thread woven with personal history.
When the powerful rulers of Nocturno, the Great Goods, seek to possess only the “best” of everything, they take Iris from her home to Great Island, choosing her to be their perfect daughter. To ease her sorrow, they strip away her Past Coat, erasing all memory of her true self and origins. All that remains of her former life is a single button—small, yet powerful—serving as a fragile thread to the life she once knew.
Guided by this token, Iris sets off on a journey of self-discovery, joined by unlikely companions: Annabel Lee, a spirited girl from the sea, and Mozart, the precocious young composer. Together, they confront the illusions of perfection, challenge the control of the Great Goods, and reclaim the pieces of Iris’s stolen past.
With courage, imagination, and heart, Still Life with Iris reminds us that home is not simply a place, but a tapestry of memory, love, and identity.