I loved this book. At the beginning, I wasn't sure I would be able to get into it, because it started off like "literary fiction," dry, self-referential, highbrow.... But I loved this book. I listened to it while driving and working on my puzzles and it stuck with me.

The story is told as a written account of the protagonist's relationship with the mentor who committed suicide. His third wife kind of guilts the protagonist into taking the Harlequin Great Dane after his owner's death. Nunez definitely got the Dane stuff right. The book itself is the letter one writes to a dear friend who has died, and how she processes her grief, the dog's grief, and their new relationship without this person in their lives anymore.

And the ending..... The ending is perfect, leading up to the dog's death, but not quite getting to that point. The difference between how we can help our pets pass vs the enforced suffering of humans at the end of life is stark, but very well handled.

There's only one part I didn't buy; not because I don't believe it, but because I didn't like it. It's the story of the man with the dog that he can't have spayed so goes through heat cycle after heat cycle with his dog. I wish the protagonist had been a little more condemnatory of his behavior, though she does discuss the difference in empathy/sympathy humans feel regarding other humans and animals.