Geraldine Brooks was working on her novel 'Horse'. Her husband, also a writer, Tony Horwitz was way on a book tour. 

She took a phone call from an official who told her bluntly that Tony had died suddenly on the street. He was 60 years old.

After 35 years of marriage, he was suddenly gone and the subsequent months were spent caring for her two sons and doing all the admin necessary when someone dies. 

It was only three years later that she could grieve when she made time to leave home in America and return to Australia, to Flinders Island, the place where she always thought she and Tony would live. Here she rested, wept and wrote.

Many cultures and religious traditions expect those who are grieving to step away from the world, but today we are immersed in bureaucracy. She pondered different nations and groups and sought her own rituals which might help her rebuild her life without Tony.

She tells us about the events in 2019 leading up to and after Tony's death, interspersed with her retreat to Flinders Island. 

She also reveals something of their relationship - they worked together in conflict zones as foreign correspondents before settling in Martha's Vineyard to raise two boys. Writing books together at home, their life sounded idyllic sharing in each other's work, complementing each other in fulfilling domestic tasks, cooking family dinners. 

This memoir is incredible. It's beautifully, sparsely written and completely compelling.