Over the course of a single week, a woman who is ready to die finds an unexpected reason to live ‘Loaded with charm, resilience, and the deep desire for connection that all mammals share. I loved it’ Ann Patchett’ Utterly charming and heartwarming’ Ruth Hogan, The Keeper of Lost Things. Following the deaths of her husband and son, Helen Cartwright returns from sixty years in Australia to the English village of her childhood. Her only wish is to die quickly and without fuss. Helen retreats into her home on Westminster Crescent, becoming a creature of routine and habit. Then, one cold autumn night, a chance encounter with an abandoned pet mouse on the street outside her house sets Helen on a surprising journey of friendship, and a way back into life itself.