The Dark Lady

She was old when the Earth was young. She has no name, no past, no future. She wears only black, and though she has been seen by many men, she has been known by only a unique handful of them. You’ll see her – if you see her at all – just after you’ve taken your last breath. Then, before you exhale for the final time, she’ll appear, silent and sad-eyed, and beckon to you.
She is the Dark Lady, and this is her story.
(And quite a story it is. The Dark Lady won the Prix Tour Eiffel, the largest cash prize in the world for science fiction novels.)