An old lady called Maud is pottering about one cold evening in her friend Elizabeth’s garden. She comes upon part of a battered powder compact, which seems important to her, though she can’t quite work out why, for her memory is fading fast. When Elizabeth is no longer there, where she should be, in her own house, Maud becomes obsessed with searching for her. Elizabeth’s apparent disappearance, coupled with finding the compact, sparks memories in Maud of Sukey, her own beloved sister, who had gone missing 70 years previously. Finding Elizabeth assumes immense significance.Written entirely in the voice of a woman whose mind and memory are rapidly evaporating, this is a remarkable and seriously gripping novel. You might have to stay up all night reading it. With touching s