It is, and it isn't.

Yes, some of the names have been changed — as have time frames and exact dialogue. But Yglesias' first novel in 13 years is basically autobiographical. It's the story of his almost 30-year relationship with his wife, Margaret, told in back-and-forth chapters recounting its sweet, charming and quirky beginnings alongside its poignant and heartbreaking end.

This is a brutally honest book. Anyone in a relationship will be able to relate. Marriage is not always loving, companions are complex animals, and life doesn't always turn out as expected.

Yglesias claimed early fame with his first novel, Hide Fox, And All After, published in 1972 when he was only 17. Now the author of nine novels, including the critically acclaimed Dr. Neruda's Cure for Evil and Fearless, he has the measured and reassuring voice of a man who has seen both the best and worst of times and seems to understand, even accept, both.

Listen: "With that knowledge beside him all day and every night, it rang false to stay angry about anything, including death, since death was, after all, the most even-handed consequence of being alive."

Though the reader knows what happens at the end of this eloquent "novel," it propels the story along rather than weakening it, right up to the last-kiss moment before Margaret dies.

"He kissed her, and while their lips met, she hummed. When he moved off, she made a contented noise, 'Mmm,' and puckered again. He kissed her again, his arms going around her thin shoulders, and she hummed throughout, vibrating with pleasure."