About the book
Amanda Tomlin’s gallery has made it through its first autumn, but winter brings bills, quiet afternoons and the hope of another sale. When Ian Davison buys a painting of a raven and its keeper, Amanda makes room on the wall for a picture of her own. Then Ian calls: the keeper’s painted hand has opened.
The photographs leave little room for doubt. The explanation is harder to find. Ian has spent years helping his brother, who is now enjoying a home and support arrangements of his own. Ian is pleased for him, yet the empty spaces in his week are proving difficult to fill. Asking whether anything needs doing has always been easier than asking for company.
As Amanda turns to the painting’s creator, Virginia Jenkins, she is also finding room for her own work and a growing relationship with Gary. Amid winter shop windows, cups of tea and conversations that take courage, an impossible alteration raises an ordinary, tender question: how do you stay close when the way you are needed begins to change?
