Ordinarily, this is not a book I would have picked up - it looks very 'soft' - but it was recommended to me by someone whose judgement I trust, so I gave it a go. The narrator is David McBride, a psychiatrist; the plot concerns his treatment of a failed suicide, Elizabeth Cruickshank. The heart of the novel is a seven hour conversation between the two main characters, during which the doctor comes to realise the resonance with which Elizabeth's life chimes with his own life and losses. The author has worked as a psychotherapist, so the conversation is convincing on that level, the characters are well-drawn and the novel is at times extremely moving, if a little over-written and grandiose, but if you can forgive that, it's worth reading.