A novel about the transporting power of the imagination, about overcoming violence, and about the beauty and resilience of a solitary life. Ellis has come to appreciate her solitary life, in her bungalow not far from the sea. As she looks from her window, she begins to find a way to confront and yet distance the past. Gradually, she edges towards and away from the time she moved to another town, the one she subsequently fled from. It was in this town that she met the man who invited her to his dinner parties and who took particular interest in knowing her biggest fear. In revealing what he did to her, Ellis also describes how she survived . . . Written in Shonagh Koea's distinctive style, this compelling novel is at times darkly humorous but also deeply unsettling.