Ruby's life is, outwardly, a fortunate one: she stays in a pleasant suburb, teaches at the inner-city community school, KwaSisonke, and can be counted among the more blessed of Durban's citizens. But none of it satisfies the void at her centre. 'The music has stopped, as Kirshiel, the odd stranger at the morning market observes.
The arrival on Ruby's doorstep of a problematic elderly house guest stirs up murky waters in Ruby's life. As she becomes embroiled in the other's messy family dynamics, she finds herself brought face to face with her own undealt-with traumas, both past and present.
Life Repair and the need for it is the heart of this deeply insightful novel. Along with the other characters, and the city itself, Ruby must undertake the difficult journey forward through the wounds at her core, in order to find wholeness.