Tremain is one of those few writers you trust completely when she goes to any unfamiliar territory, historical or emotional& Tremain knows how to show all the terrible bleak things that can happen between mothers and sons& This most unconventional book offers no easy answer, which makes it as disturbing and electric as any high-wire act.?[Tremains] expertise is evident in its gradual layering of personal history and its subtle mingling of lights and darks.[F]rom this tangled mess of human relations, Tremain draws a conclusion that is simultaneously straightforward and sweetly transformative. Like so much else in this compassionate and musical novel, it hits a perfect?note.This is a perfect novel about lifes imperfection&What Rose Tremain understands, above all, is the tragedy of temperament and the way it plays havoc with choice& Tremain is anything but an indulgent writer and is, here, writing at the height of her inimitable powers.Winner of the 2016 National Jewish Book Award for Fiction