Sublime

She was particularly interested in living authors, although she initially refused to meet them, knowing the distance between the work and the person could be covered only by disappointment.

something treasured and loved; something they might miss but would not grieve.

with the hurts that had come, the troubles that had built, with the loss of hope and absence of trust and with a mental incapacitation over which nobody seemed willing or able to prevail.

tetchy

She might be very young, or her own age.

The Lost Child

superannuated

fecklessness

Memories had a long half-life.