This was such a surprising book. I was expecting kind of an espionage story with lots of action. What I got was a slow-moving, thoughtful story that provided me with a lot to think about. I like both types of books, but since I wasn't expecting that out of this book, it was a nice treat! I won this book from Goodreads, and what a great prize it was - I might not have chosen it otherwise.

The story is about a little girl and her brother, whose mother dies in a car crash. Because that takes place in the early 60's, much has been in the news about spies and double agents, etc. Peter, the brother, begins to suspect that perhaps their mother didn't really die, but was a spy. A few coincidences occur to support that possibility. Because that seed of doubt was planted (and doubt is power, as the author says), the desire to solve the "mystery" of her death continues to haunt the children into their adult years.

I thought the author painted wonderful pictures with words, and got me examining some things in my own life. The narrator of the story was the girl - I can't even think of her name - and action moves back and forth from the past to the present. Haven't we all just done "stuff" to take time, like the girl in the story who plays piano scales, builds card houses, and polishes silver in order to keep from thinking about reality?

Harding's story deals with the desire of most people to want to make sense of their past, to attach a logical reason for why things happen. Life is complicated, though, as the narrator finds out, and things aren't always what they appear. and if things aren't what they appear - it isn't necessarily bad. Sometimes it turns out to be a method of survival to reinvent yourself. And, as Harding sums it up: "This is what the whole world is doing: clearing, forgetting, reconstructing."

I thoroughly enjoyed the story - it was a fairly quick read, but carefully written. My only complaint - and perhaps this will be taken care of by the editor - is the failure to use the subjunctive. I don't know why it bothers me so much, but when a thoughtful book has "If I was" instead of "If I were", it grates on me! and there were at least 3 instances of that in the book. But - if that's the worst thing about it - so be it!