Frances Itani was a nurse for eight years before she took a writing course from W.O. Mitchell. Since then, she has published 18 books, from her first collection of poems, No Other Lodgings, published in 1978, to her most recent novel, The Company We Keep. Along the way she has received numerous accolades and was made a member of the Order of Canada to recognize her outstanding contributions to literature in this country. Itani’s books return often to two themes: loss and grief. Her third book of poems, A Season of Mourning, dealt with the death of her sister. In Deafening, the loss of hearing is an ocean her characters must cross. And in The Company We Keep, each character deals with the passing of a loved one in their own unique but effective way. Time after time, Itani tells an intimate, universal, and poignant story. Her sculpted prose, quietly breathtaking, leaves us haunted and yearning for more.