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As we follow Jodie's present struggle, we're led back into Agnes' past through vignettes in time 2001, 1986, 1985, 1976, 1968, 1949, 1938, 1934... key memories, each of which provokes and leads back to the moment, the years, before.
It could be argued that this device is becoming over-used at the moment, but for once, the author does at least hold the backwards-narrative together. Each memory that surfaces, leads logically to its predecessor. There is none of the disjointedness that you might find in, say, Sarah Waters ( [[''The Night Watch]]''). The questions raised by each encounter are answered by its predecessor as though you'd actually asked them.
Slowly then, we learn the whole family history, through the grandmother, while the grand-daughter struggles to deal with the consequences of it... until their courses collide.