This is one of the best books I have read. Before I go on, I want to say that I think it is something an older audience would enjoy because of its look at the thoughts and motivations of an older person, and how we look back at our lives. Also, this book captures the Norwegian personality and culture. It's not a typical "who dun it" with lots of action. Miller is brilliant. In doing research about the book, I learned that in 2014 the Economist also named it among the top 6 books in the world (I assume that is of those recently published) Miller tackles many themes. I read it twice and kept finding more in it, and had an excellent book group discussion. His main character, Sheldon Horowitz, is an 82-year-old Jewish man from New York who lost his only son in the Vietnam War, his daughter, and most recently his wife. Because he is alone, is granddaughter Rhea talks him into moving in with her and her Norwegian husband Lars in Oslo, Norway. Not long into the book there is a murder of a Serbian refugee to Norway by a man from Kosovo who had raped her several years earlier in Serbia. He came after her because he wanted the son he had fathered. Sheldon rescues the little boy and tries to get him to safety. The book is suspenseful as we experience Sheldon and Paul's flight for their life. But the book is so much more. We get into Sheldon's head, and absolutely feel what drives this man. We also see him through the eyes of his granddaughter, who is sure he has dementia. I am amazed at how well the author Miller understands and can exemplify how we think, and how our mind remembers traumatic events, and how our minds try to fix something that happen in the past. Sheldon has just enough sense of humor to make this book uplifting even as it reveals the horribleness of war, and the pain of loss. It is a sensitive and deep book, not merely a beach read.