Synopsis
The NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER from the beloved author of Bird by Bird and Traveling Mercies.
A funny, warm, and wise novel about family and forgiveness from an author acclaimed as "nothing short of miraculous" (The New Yorker).
Book Magazine
Lamott's sixth novel shows her protagonist, Mattie Ryder, dealing with the sorts of temptations to which devout Christians rarely admit. Can middle-aged Mattie, a beleaguered mother and daughter, remain an essentially moral person while continuing to sleep with (and wanting to kill) her philandering ex-husband? Should she covet the affections of her handyman friend, who is faithfully, if not happily, married? It's a test of faith for Lamott's characters to find evidence of God's grace amid lives of such messy complexity, but the author shows that it's possible to find Jesus (as she herself has) without losing a sense of humor. Lamott's tragicomic embrace of life's travails and blessings reads like born-again Anne Tyler with a hippie past, depicting a generation that has exchanged the radical rebellions of the '60s for the comforts of lattes and white wine, National Public Radio and diminished expectations. There are a lot of flaws to be found in this book soap opera complications, politically correct clichés but there's also a lot of life. Author Don McLeese