A single choice - whether or not to marry her long-distance boyfriend in her early twenties - sends Patricia spiraling into two very different lives. These lives are told in parallel, yet both reach the same conclusion: confused convalescence in a nursing home at the end of her life. 
 The story moves along at a brisk pace, stopping only briefly for individual scenes. It's like reading the truncated SparkNotes of two lives. TL;DR. Something about it reminded me in a kindly fashion of hearing about the exploits of Sims you've grown particularly fond of, or playing house with dolls as a child. 
 The story and language are all very straightforward, nothing terribly original or different happened... but I found myself enjoying it very much. It's an incredibly comforting read. You see the same woman build a life for herself and find beauty in her surroundings, no matter the circumstances. Patricia begins shy yet resilient; as her life progresses, she surrounds herself with love and beauty when possible, takes chances for self-improvement no matter how late the age. There are some great portrayals of non-traditional relationships and families. Alternate timelines for world events always make me smile, and neither timeline in this book is exactly our own.