Grace is working as a paediatric oncology nurse when a chance meeting reconnects her with childhood friend, Nate. She is drawn into an affair with him even as she articulates reasons why she should not do so. After a seemingly innocuous mark on a patient develops into a large bruise, and the young girl is rushed to ICU, Grace is thrust back into the past. She recalls her sister Emma’s illness, and meeting Nate through the shared experience of bearing witness to their siblings’ cancer diagnosis and treatment. Weaving between the past and the present, Skimming Stones not only explores the effect a life-threatening illness can have on a sibling, but also the value of intergenerational connections and cultural heritage, the power of language, and the impact of the past on who we become. Skimming Stones is evocatively told, and it is worth reading slowly to fully savour the poetic language and vivid images that moves beyond research and into the texture of lived experience.