4 1/2 stars. This book feels like a love letter to its characters - the close third person narrator lets us see into their hearts, but respectfully, gently, without prying, and without violating the illusions that sustain and protect them and give their life richness. It also has the only well-done, graphic love scene I have ever read - it helps that it's only a few sentences long, and while graphic it isn't at all voyeuristic.