Everyone needed their stories, the other side of the ribbon of their lives, the real life and the dream, the statement and the meaning, all of them a tape's breadth apart from each other, impossibly divided, indivisibly close.'Every year, Robert's family come together at a rambling old house to celebrate his birthday.

Every year, Robert's family come together to celebrate his birthday. But this year he doesn't want to be reminded of what has happened since they last met - and neither, for quite different reasons, does his granddaughter Kate. Neither of them is sure they can face the party. But for both Robert and Kate, it may become the most important gathering of all.