In 'Falling Out of Time', David Grossman has created a genre-defying story of bereaved parents setting out to reach their lost children. It begins in a small village, in a kitchen, where a man announces to his wife that he is leaving, embarking on a journey in search of their dead son. The man - called simply the 'Walking Man' - paces in ever-widening circles around the town. One after another, all manner of townsfolk fall into step with him (the net mender, the midwife, the elderly maths teacher and even the duke), each enduring his or her own loss.