Outlines.

Outlines opens with an English woman talking to a man sitting next to her on a flight to Greece where she is heading to teach a creative writing class at a summer school. As the book progresses through ten episodes, the personality of the woman is gradually revealed.

The episodes mostly take the form of conversations between the woman, her students and her friends and colleagues. Many of the conversations revolve around family, in particular the relationships between husbands and wives and mothers and sons. From these conversations the reader learns that the woman is trying to come to terms with a great loss.

Outlines is a short book but it is beautifully written. Not a lot happens but it manages to be very atmospheric and it's characters feel very real. It is very well structured, containing many detailed observations and descriptions that are written in a skillful way that add depth and atmosphere to the book.   

There was something about the writing, along with the way that the story unfolded, that made this book very soothing and somewhat addictive to read. I enjoyed it very much.