A daughter reflects on her complex relationship with her mother, in life and in death.

This book is entirely composed of non-chronological fragments of memories of a mother-daughter relationship which was difficult at times and thoughts on grief, both generally and the narrator’s specific experience of accompanying her mother through her terminal illness. There are some excellent and evocative observations in there, and some of the more general thoughts on grief strongly resonated for me.

But be warned, there is absolutely no plot, so won’t work for everyone. While there were a few references to the narrator’s post-Soviet childhood in Poland (I always enjoy glimpses of everyday life elsewhere), unless you have an active interest in reading about grief as I do, there isn’t much else to grasp onto that will pull you through the book.

A fragmentary, poignant meditation on grieving a mother with whom one has had a complicated relationship.