Summary

The novel opens with the old woman, later identified as Ettie, toasting bread over an open fire when Antal, her former son-in-law and the village doctor, arrives to inform her that her husband is nearing death. They go together to the clinic, observed by Kolman, the local shopkeeper, who guesses what their early morning journey means, and it is revealed that Vince, Ettie's husband, has not been told what is happening to him. Their daughter, Iza, is also a doctor and when Vince's diagnosis was made, she took her mother out for coffee to tell her and prepare her for the months to come. Although Ettie wanted Iza to come home to be with them during Vince's illness, that would be uncharacteristic and tell Vince that something was wrong, so Iza declined.

Walking into the clinic, Ettie doubts that her husband...