Written for those who sit beside hospital beds, who visit the sick, or who are home carers – perhaps attending to the needs of someone who is terminally ill. We know our own powerlessness, but nevertheless try to respond as best we can, waiting, watching, caring, being there; like Mary.

There are twelve very short chapters (e.g. ‘Uncertainty’, ‘Memories’, ‘Laughter’, ‘Loneliness’, ‘What love can do’, ‘Tears’, ‘The place of decision’), each with a brief introductory text, verse from Scripture, and prayers which represent the struggle to pray through and find God within the watching and waiting hours.