The Smallest Things

It is easy to take for granted the things that are always around us, the people who are always there. And yet they often hold the keys to who we really are. Nick Duerden's grandparents were always just . . . there. A mysterious yet unchanging presence, a source of dutiful visits, birthday cards and carefully preserved rituals: lunches, dinners and endless card games. But, as he enters midlife, and...