This is a book about motherhood, memory and longing. It entwines two timelines and two sets of characters.

Lexi’s story begins in the late 1950s and spans around 20 years. Elina’s story is set around 2007, and takes place over a much shorter period (a few months). Both women are unconventional, creative and living at a distance from their birth families. Both are surprised by the intensity of their feelings when they become mothers. They will turn out to have more than this in common, though they never meet.

Points for discussion

1. The novel begins with Alexandra reinventing herself as Lexi, leaving home and family and setting off for a new life in London. Do you find the emerging character convincing? If not, why not?

2. The two timelines give the author an opportunity to contrast not just social mores but the cultures of the decades. How effectively do you think she achieves this?

3. Lapses in memory are an important aspect of the 21st century narrative. Both Elina and Ted suffer from them, although their ‘absences’ have important differences. How much do the effects of these lapses in memory increase your engagement with the story? Is it perhaps a case of an unreliable narrative rather than an unreliable narrator?

4. When the two narratives finally intersect, are you surprised by what is revealed?  Did you see it coming?

Suggestions for prayer

1. Give thanks for the joy of parental love, and the delight in watching a child grow.

2. Give thanks that we live in a society where both women and men have the freedom to be creative and to explore ideas.

3. Pray for all those mothers and children who are separated or bereaved.

4. Pray for those who struggle to hold onto memory, or become disorientated in place or time.