Set in rural Flanders, this is a surprisingly entertaining tale of love, terminal illness, dogs, and suicide. Two decades after her husband's suicide, Mme. Verona realizes she's become too infirm to walk unaided up the steep hill to her house, and decides to end her life. I'd never heard of this Flemish writer, Dimitri Verhulst, before but I intend to read more by him. A novel as enigmatic as its cover and title.