Husband and wife, Tom and Nuala, are faced with harrowing decisions when Tom is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness.

Their grown children, Rick and Jane, along with Tom's mother, Marian, are also deeply drawn into Tom's desperate situation.

Each family member faces their own conflicts and prejudices as they struggle to come to terms with Tom's mortality.

Tom's own pragmatic view of his illness forces his family to confront head-on one of today's most pressing and controversial issues.

Choices are made and choices are asked to be made. By the novel's end the family finally understands there simply are no easy answers, as it falls to Nuala to make the most heartbreaking choice of all.