Four and a half stars, rounding up to five. If I must be perfectly honest, honest to the point of nitpicking, I think it dragged just a little bit in the middle and the poetry - with the exception of one which seems to be heavily inspired by Mary Oliver's Wild Geese - is not that great. However, the conclusion is really wonderful - one of those sad, happy, hopeful conclusions in which everyone's story, and all the relationships, are tied up perfectly. That ending covers a multitude of sins, and there aren't many sins here to cover. It's such an imaginative, emotive novel, full of fantastic images in both senses of the word. I was thoroughly delighted, and it's one of those library books which is going on my must-get-copy-of-my-own list, because I can see myself reading this again and again and never getting tired of it.