Wow. I was already a big fan and I was enjoying the seasonal "quartet", but this volume really threw me. The first 2 had set me up to expect more brief chapters detailing random/general facts & explanations of how the world works to his youngest, unborn daughter- but this one was a departure. In just under 190 pages and 3 long chapters (+ Epilogue), Karl Ove does what he does best depicting his day in minuscule detail to totally draw in the reader, but this time he also made a pretty big reveal. I was rapt and had to put the book down often because there are several utterly beautiful passages which I had to absorb, and then there were many more difficult passages, when he shows us how after putting off for months, he had to finally make a decision to save his wife and help her become well. It's a truly heartwrenching ordeal, and Karl Ove again paints himself as a pretty awful guy, but balances it out with all the time he puts into caring for the children while his wife is away and making mistakes like leaving the house with the baby but no money or milk.


**Trigger warnings for discussions of depression & suicide.**