A mature and beautifully written novel, full of wonderful descriptions, humour and understanding. Sam, whose age we don't know but who is still in primary school, has lost his mother to a brain tumour. Fast-acting and inoperable, the tumour has not let the family get used to the idea that she is dying. The story begins at her cremation service. Sam's imagination has decided that because mum has always talked about 'the other side' and 'the next world' (she goes to a spiritualist church) that perhaps she will make contact through new technology. When he finds her mobile phone and a contact phone number on the kitchen notice board, he texts the number. The man on the other end, Tony, a truck driver, is perplexed at what is obviously a plea from a child trying to find his mum. He answers the text, and in so doing begins a chain reaction that almost has tragic consequences. Some parts of the story are written from Tony's point of view, others from Sam's older sister Becky's, and occasionally from his father's as well. But the emphasis is on Sam, his feelings about his mum's death and how he finally begins to come to terms with it. Moving and intensely real, this book ties up all the layers very satisfactorily. Stunning.