A wondrous, tender novel about a young girl grappling with her role in a tragic loss, attempting to reshape the story of her life. Margaret Murphy is a natural-born weaver of fantastic tales, growing up in a world where the truth is too much for one little girl to endure. Margaret’s first memory is of the day her friend Agnes died. Left on her own to make sense of the tragedy, Margaret invents ever more imaginative and superstitious fictions as a way to avoid thinking about what really happened that day. Enter Poor Deer: a strange, austere creature who winds her way uninvited into Margaret’s made-up tales. Poor Deer won't rest until Margaret faces the truth about her past and atones for her role in Agnes’s death. The creature offers Margaret a sudden chance to sweep the ledger clean—but the stakes are terribly high. Is Poor Deer’s offer to be trusted? Or is it just another one of Margaret's made-up stories, too good to be true?