A grave could be visited. Ashes could be scattered. But vanishing? That ripped a hole in the world the size of a life, and through that hole sighed a terrible wind repeating a single note:

Gone.

For years, Aggie had forgotten the real Joanne, the way her sister had laughed, fought, been.

But now that the videotape made her real again-no matter how many times the recording changed, no matter how terrifying the flickering images-it was all Aggie wanted. To trade the Gone for the One. She owed Joanne that much. To say she was sorry. That it had been her fault.

It had been all their faults.

Linked by the bond between mothers, daughters and sisters in a range of poignant contexts, the narrative is subtly feminist and also surfaces sub-themes of multicultural and transcultural significance.

The strength of nurturing relationships is exposed in this kaleidoscope of fragments-all that remain of a rich life eroded and distorted by dementia.

Daughters who find themselves dealing with the emotional burden of caring for their mothers and their own daughters will find inspiration in the pathos and compassion generated among the characters.

Catapulted from the comfortable life of colonial Rangoon into the hardship of hunger fear, rejection and poverty, Yolande demonstrates the tenacity of unfailing love. The narrative has appeal for all who believe in the beauty, strength and vulnerability of women.