Pat Barker is one of my favorite writers, but this book didn't seem as strong to me as the others of hers that I have read. It's about a boy who kills an old woman when he is very young and then when he finally gets out of the institution he meets up with the shrink who helped put him away. The shrink being the one who attested that said boy knew (morally speaking) what he was doing when he killed the old woman. Sounds gory and depressing but I didn' find it so. Although I made certain I read key scenes in broad daylight and outdoors, so I wouldn't have nightmares. It asks some probing psychological and philosophical questions--can someone who does something like that EVER be rehabilitated or trusted or have a somewhat normal life again? And she doesn't try to answer those questions, the ending is quite ambiguous, but not unsatisfying. I couldn't give her four stars b/c I expect SO much from her...