"By 2009 I'd been a widow for three years. Then an old colleague invited me down to the Virgin Islands. But how could I even think about a new life when my husband was dead. Queen Victoria mourned forever. Still, I went. Water Island was lovely: blue sky, cream-puff clouds, palm fronds, trade winds, turquoise water, and white sand beaches. It was scary, exploring a new love, but without love what's the point of life? We decided to build a house. And no one builds a house in the West Indies if she knows what she is doing"--Back cover