This is a real little gem of a book, poignant and tender, about Ishbel Mackintosh, a spinster now in her 50s, who has been in thrall to her hideous mother her whole life and whose own life as a result has been joyless and stunted. With insight and acute empathy Hanagan dissects the mother-daughter relationship, and as Ishbel, meek and dutiful, submits to her mother’s caprices, we long for Ishbel to one day have a chance of happiness. Whether that will ever happen remains uncertain, but this beautifully crafted novel at least offers a glimmer of hope for this good woman after her mother’s death.

This is perhaps one of the most beautiful stories I have read in a long time.
Wonderful prose and story lines. I was captivated.

Don't bother with this book. No story, it droned on for what seemed like forever. People were unreal, nothing much happened, no emotion, all the characters were without substance.