A much-loved young man, Declan, is dying of AIDS in early 1990s Ireland. As a result, his sister, mother and grandmother are thrown together for the first time in many years, watching over him in a house by the sea. Colm Toibin carefully controls the emotional temperature in his Bookershortlisted novel, creating a deceptive, slow-burning effect. From a low-key, almost banal opening - a prologue to the revelation of Declan's illness to his family - the intensity builds. There are no histrionics, but the reader is drawn into a complex, multi-layered set of family relationships, sympathetically, sometimes humorously, portrayed. Toibin's use of dialogue has an authentic rhythm and his characterisations are perceptive, full of unresolved ambiguity. The profound sadness at the heart of this novel is all the more affecting for its understatement.