In distinctive, graceful prose, Vickers explores the ways both love and art can penetrate the complexities of the human heart, to invade and change our being, and the possibilities of regeneration through another's vision and understanding.

Salley Vickers's novel opens with the arrival of a new patient in the office of therapist David McBride. The woman, Elizabeth Cruikshank, has just attempted suicide. As the two begin to explore her history, David takes an uncommon interest in her case, a curiosity driven by a terrible loss in his own life. During one long night's dialogue, patient and therapist move together through the past, each one approaching the source of the grief that has made them who they are.

A former psychologist and professor of English, Salley Vickers is the author of “Miss Garnet's Angel, Instances of the Number 3, ”and “Mr Golightly's Holiday,” She lives in London.