The woman on the right is reading a book, leaning on a table covered with a decorative patterned tablecloth and a vase with some flowers.

The other woman, on the left, seems not to listen to the reading as she appears to be distracted.

The theme of the work evokes the escape of women by reading.

The woman on the left represents the artist's sister-in-law, Charlotte Dubourg.

[1] During the Biennial of Contemporary Art in 2009 in Lyon, artist Wong Hoy Cheong reinterpreted the painting in a photograph of Muslim women wearing a burqa.