In some ways this book is about loss, but also about memory, or the feeling of sharing across the centuries what it is to be human, experiencing similar moods. When her father dies, as well as pain, the author feels the sharpened intensity of life. And as she records the events of her year, remembering her father’s life too, she is made aware again of the journals of James Boswell, and in particular, how this eighteenth century man reacted to the loss of an infant son whom he was never able to see. Interwoven with scenes of Holland, where she first goes to deal with her grief, are the day-to-day scenes of existence, encounters with her partner, her friends, her memories and thoughts, so that this in some way becomes everyone’s story. Then as a footnote, there are the three short stories dealing with family and time and endurance that complete this book.