Helen Cartwright is 83 years old and has no great expectations for her future. But one day, fate enters her life in the form of a mouse. Little by little, in small steps, she reluctantly embarks on a new beginning. With great sensitivity, Simon Van Booy tells the story of the extraordinary friendship between a widow and a mouse, reminding us that there are always second chances. After sixty years in Australia, Helen Cartwright returns to the small town near Oxford where she was born. She buys a small house with a mustard-yellow door and leads a secluded life: each day a repetition of the previous one, as if there were even a queue for death. But then Helen's life takes a sudden turn when an unexpected guest appears in the form of a good-natured mouse. Her initial attempts to get rid of the mouse lead her to the pet shop, the library, and the hardware store. As the mouse drinks from a small bottle cap in the kitchen sink, Helen reconnects with her neighbors—and embarks on an unexpected journey back to herself. Because no matter what we plan for ourselves, sometimes life has other plans. New product