We first meet 17-year-old Lenni in the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital. When she thinks of the word ‘terminal’ she thinks of airports, but the medical staff refer to her hospital ward euphemistically, as ‘life limiting’. Either way, it is clear from the start there will be no happy endings for her.

She is encouraged to attend art classes, and it is there she meets and befriends 83-year-old Margot, who is awaiting heart surgery and who tells her she has ‘survived by accident’. They form an instant bond in the Art Room, which is run by the delightful Pippa, one of those relentlessly cheerful characters everyone knows. It is here they decide to commemorate key moments in their lives by creating paintings – 83 pictures for Margot, 17 for Lenni, 100 in total. It is through the development of these paintings we learn the story of both their lives.

Sharing and preserving their best and worst memories helps them define the moments of their lives they truly cherish. From painful reconciliations, growing old and missing opportunities, other losses and slights, to the small joys and kindnesses, and the eternal power of love.

Lenni is rightfully raging against all she will never experience and Margot is a free spirit who has lived life to the fullest and has many words of wisdom and comfort for her younger protégé. In many ways it is beautiful story, a testimony to love and friendship in all of its forms, but it is also a stark reminder of tragic loss. A clever debut novel.

Reviewed by Lesley West