Hannah is living in a world of grief and depression. She is childless and her beloved and artistic mother has died of parkinson's disease. In an effort to help her recover, her well-meaning husband brings her an orphaned muscovy duckling to care for. But as Hannah meets the growing duckling's needs, much as she took care of her dying mother's needs, she becomes ever more reliant on their relationship. Instead of moving through the grieving process naturally, her obsession with the duck, which she has anthropomorphised, and the conversations they have together seem to be holding her back from grieving properly and pulling her away from her husband and other human relationships.

I feel that the book could have been shorter, it lost me at around the halfway mark. However, it was a quirky book with a great cover and I was determined to finish it. I found the last few chapters an improvement and the underlying story good. ( )