Structure

The structure of the memoir is fragmented and resistant to narrative progression. The book opens with Li recalling the moment she was informed of both her sons’ deaths, events separated by six and a half years, before moving back and forth across time without any attempt at linear organisation. Childhood memories, scenes from the immediate aftermaths of Vincent’s and James’s deaths, reflections written years later, and episodes from Li’s own upbringing in China are interwoven rather than ordered. This structure signals from the outset that the book will not conform to expectations of development, resolution, or recovery.

Although the memoir is presented as a book written for and about James, Vincent’s presence is constant. His death is returned to repeatedly, often occupying as much narrative space as James’s. This reflects the reality of Li’s grief, in which the losses cannot be...