This waas a first novel by a writer who had already established herself as a poet and prose artist of extraordinary talent. In the course of the tale, a woman with a long memory tries to learn the art of manipulation. Two love affairs and a crazy female friendship nourished on unlikely objects are at the centre of her life. The small ads that say so much about the world around her, the fascination of a borrowed record, and the fraying shirt that has taken the place of her absent husband - these are important too. What it all adds up to is a compelling, unusual and often funny love story which is also something of an exercise in detection.