I was really very pleasantly surprised by this book. I had thought it might be a little boring, but each person's story captivated me and I love how the author weaves all the individual threads of each persons life together so that they are all inextricably linked and have no idea. It kind of puts life, and here the themes of love and grief, into perspective. The title, 'Improvement' and got me thinking. At one point in the book the word is actually used. Other than that, it's a bit more of a stretch to find its relevance, but I like that it made me think, and to look at the story in a certain way without the narrative having to steer me through it. It's the kind of book that makes you work a little bit. I would certainly be interested in reading more by the same author, even though I felt the book was a bit of an anticlimax (although I guess this book is all about the realism, and the anticlimax ending is far more realistic of life, which doesn't have any resolutions really and just goes on). It's not the kind of book I'll be shouting about here, there and everywhere, but I would recommend it if it came up in conversation.