Etta has never seen the sea but she would very much like to so one morning she gets up, writes a note to Otto, packs a bag with some food and starts walking. 
 This is a lovely, bittersweet story which superficially appears to be about Etta's journey but manages to weave in the story of Otto and Etta's life together and how their relationships both with each other and with Russell first came about. 
 I did like the way this novel was written. It is very quirky but also very clever; Etta does not always remember who she is and sometimes sees the world through different eyes but the subtle writing makes that easy to understand and interpret in the context of the characters involved and adds to our understanding of their relationships. 
 In summary, I loved this book and I would recommend it to fans of Rachel Joyce and Alexander McCall Smith. One of my favourite books this year.