A brother's lament

At his mother's house, a suitcase in the attic stows Nicky's scant belongings, out of sight and mind, and there is a bunch of condolence letters whose well-intentioned inanities Beard quotes to good effect throughout the book, showing up the poverty of our language in acknowledging grief. While reading (and finding flaws with) the condolence letters, he relies on his inner literary critic to "fend away the risk of genuine empathy"; stumbling on precious references to Nicky's personality in school reports, he expresses a wariness of short cuts to character.