The countdown clock — or, more accurately in this case, the count- up clock — has reached three days, three hours, 11 minutes, and 14 seconds once we return to the present after a cold ( freezing , actually) open that takes place roughly seven years earlier. And one of the subtle-yet-significant aspects of Carol’s new life is that she hasn’t had the opportunity to mourn, even though she’s plainly desperate to do it . Consider how important it was for Carol to give her partner, Helen, a proper burial, and how quickly afterward she was whisked away on a global adventure to find the small handful of English speakers who share her predicament. She wants to be left alone for a host of different reasons, including her temperamental disdain for the blissful mind-meld being pressed on her. B

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