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My name is Lucy Barton, the Lucy Barton who came from nothing, the Lucy Barton who her mother said was ungrateful, and turned into the Lucy Barton who is a best-selling author. After a long absence, my mother appeared in my ward. After a long absence, I felt a touch of warmth. We talked about the people I had never met and the past that I didn't want to recall. Perhaps because I am living a good life now, those poor days have become recallable. However, I want to confirm one thing, am I loved? Why doesn't my mother say she loves me?

I want to talk briefly about my first husband, William. We had been married for nearly twenty years when we divorced. I thought I would be heartbroken over being separated from him, but I wasn't. I'm still fine, and so is William. During the years I spent with William, I sometimes thought marriage was such an abomination: the familiarity with each other was so strong that it filled the whole room, my throat was choked by the understanding of each other, the smell of my thoughts, the self-awareness in every word, the slight raise of the eyebrows, the unnoticeable tilt of the chin. No one knew the meaning of those actions except each other. In such a life, one cannot be free, never. This book is the third book in the "Lucy Barton Quartet" and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. It tells the story of Lucy and William, although they are divorced, they still accompany each other to form and face new relationships over the years. By chance, William discovered that he had a half-sister. William invited Lucy to accompany him to Maine to find his sister and explore the past of his parents' generation. In this process, Lucy's various memories are interspersed, about love, affection, family relationships and self.