Ashley and Richard are a handsome and successful couple, she an architect, he a physicist. In their mid-thirties they feel secure in their careers and relationship to have a baby to complete their lives, to seal their happiness. Their baby is stillborn. Ashley and Richard try to deal with the loss rationally, but the relationship is quickly threatened to its core, last not least by the feeling of failure when faced with friends and colleagues. Their story of falling apart before recovery is possible, experienced by thousands of couples each and every year and the underlying cause of so many divorces, is told alternating between the wife's and the husband's point of view. The author dares to deal with the difficult subject of what such a loss means to a couple's sexuality, as men and women have different ways and time tables to deal with it. The novel is highly recommended by grief workers and psychotherapists and suggests small steps for coping, forgiving, and healing.