John Banville's most successful novel, awarded the Man Booker Prize. Anna and the art historian Max are happily married when they learn that Anna is terminally ill with cancer and does not have long to live. After her death, Max escapes to the sea, to the place where he spent exciting summers as a child. There, he met the unconventional Grace family with their twins Myles and Chloe. Mrs. Grace has a magnetic pull on young Max, awakening a deep longing within him. As Max recalls almost manically his awakening sexuality that summer, his erotic fantasies, and his later love for Chloe, along with his happy times with Anna and her final days in the hospital, he attempts to come to terms with his profound loss. In poetic language and with allusions to literature, art, and mythology, this novel illustrates how.