This beautifully written novel will not appeal to everyone, but to a child with a serious heart condition, perhaps one leading to a possible transplant, it could be of seminal importance. Twelve year old Gussie, born with a serious heart complaint, has come to live in a cottage near St Ives with her mum and their three cats. They are there because the climate is better for Gussie's health and because they have just had a dreadful year. Dad has left to live with 'the lovely Eloise' and Gussie's beloved Grandpop and Grandma have died within days of each other. The story is a wonderful ramble through Gussie's thought and memories. There is little action or plot, but lots about the bird life around the cottage, the badgers who come to feed, the Cornish weather, the cats, and the teeming wild life. Interspersed are Gussie's feelings about her own condition, her awareness that life may be short, and her determination to make the most of each day. Written by her, the story seems more like an intimate diary than a novel. Truthful and sometimes sad, the text shows us a child becoming a young woman, with growing realisations of the grief of others, particularly her mum. There are funny times too, and at the end, after another serious bout of illness, Gussie is on the official transplant list and hoping for a few more years. An important and unusual subject handled with great delicacy.