This poignant, contemporary novel's leitmotif is the successful process of recuperation after such significant losses as death, divorce, serious illness, marital infidelity, and a change in family constellation; it is also a tale about friendship and about the stubborn strength of women, who refuse to cave in when troubles visit them. They face inevitable blows, but learn to compensate, to support each other, and to celebrate the joys still coming their way.
The central figure, Katharina, a retired physician and recent widow, learns to work through the grief of losing her husband, while her daughter is managing a stormy time in her marriage. One of the friends makes a splash in the art world, another faces cancer and a third defies her family, ignores general expectations, and marries again at the end of her sixth decade. Their friendship is deep, supportive and laced with humor. These warm, intelligent women show that the quality of life does not necessarily depend on the age factor, and that the word 'friendship' is not a clich? void of all meaning.
During a lonely walk mother and daughter encounter a strange, spiritual man, who speaks about the purpose and the meaning in life and reassures them of the immortality of the soul. He does this in a factual, placid manner, and so makes his ideas easily acceptable to these modern and sophisticated women. He gently shows them how to resolve some of their conflicts.