Haunting and humane, "The Loss Adjustor" speaks of grief, forgiveness and redemption. Caro is a Loss Adjustor, tallying grief for an insurance firm, she finds relief in the fact that the human cost is never itemised in her inventories. The present is two dimensional for her, but history is loaded with colour and scent. Sometimes she tries to force a little perspective with a spare summary of event: Estelle died two weeks after her fifteenth birthday. It was sudden, violent, explicit. Afterwards, Cormac left and never returned. Now she waits for resolution, which comes in the form of an unlikely alliance. Aifric Campbell's second novel is a quiet hymn to childhood, grief and the redeeming power of friendship.

Recommended to book clubs by 0 of 0 members.