The Walkers of Lisbon, Philippe Besson

"We never really give up, we need to believe that all is not lost, we cling to a thread, even the thinnest, even the most fragile. We tell ourselves that the other person will eventually come back. We wait. We hate ourselves for waiting, but it's less painful than abandonment, than total resignation. So: we're waiting for someone who probably won't come back."
Hélène watched live on television the images of a devastating earthquake in a distant city; her husband was staying there at that very moment.
Mathieu, meanwhile, one day found a breakup letter in an empty apartment.
These two, who don't know each other, will meet by chance in Lisbon. And talk.
Only one question gnaws at them: how to face the disappearance of a loved one? And the emptiness?
As they wander through this melancholic city, whose famous saudade permeates each winding alleyway, aren't they trying to heal their wounds and take an interest, once again, in the living?