'In a small coastal town where I know almost no-one, in a hipsterish cafe that is becoming all too familiar, I am eavesdropping on two women at a neighbouring outdoor table. Their conversation has drifted from kayaking to the pangs of the empty nest, to the demise of elderly parents, with not a word about decluttering. Their subjects are my subjects, and perhaps because I have lately been alone in a house full of ghosts, I would rather like to join their table.' (Publication abstract)