A novel full of the confused emotions and explorations of identity and physicality that come to define occasional lovers Marianne and Connell from secondary school to just after university.  The book is achingly true of two people learning to better understand themselves through their on-and-off again relationship and their circling, as birds might circle, over a connection that isn't easy for themselves or others to define.  While Marianne's explorations might have more immediate resonance to readers, it was the insight into Connell's efforts to better understand his needs that felt so deeply familiar and valuable to this male reader.