In “Craving,” written by the Dutch novelist Esther Gerritsen and translated by Michele Hutchison, Elisabeth de Wit reveals her illness to her daughter, Coco, “at the wrong time, in the wrong place, in the wrong clothes.” She stops Coco as she’s cycling down a busy road and “smiles like a person about to tell a joke” before blurting out the news. Elisabeth seems to have an inappropriate response for everything. In one scene, Coco tries to get closure from her dying mother about her childhood, when Elisabeth would lock her in a room for days while she cried. “Darling, you don’t have to feel guilty about it,” Elisabeth replies. “You couldn’t help it!”