December 15, 2013
Written in thesouthern gothic manner, White's (The Unfinished Garden, 2012) latest unsettling tale explores the boundaries between parents and children, reality and delusion. Best-selling author Will travels from New York City to North Carolina when his Native American father, Jacob, is ousted from a senior facility for starting a fistfight. Jacob, whose memory is spotty, doesn't remember that his grandson died in a fatal car crash a few months earlier, and Will can't decide whether to keep reminding Jacob or to let him believe the boy is still alive. While Will looks for another place for Jacob to live, they stay in a cabin on the property of divorced holistic veterinarian Hannah, whose graduate student son has threatened to commit suicide. Since debilitating depression runs in the family, Hannah is working to keep her son from killing himself like her father did. While the thirtysomething Will and older Hannah feel connected, how can they come together with their families imploding? White's beautifully crafted novel demonstrates how two broken souls can find peace for themselves and their loved ones.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)