Widower

Publishers Weekly

The wounded of heart and mind take the slow lane to redemption in this quiet debut novel, set in a small town in northern Michigan. Feisty Grace Blackwater tends to two damaged men: her uncle, Joseph Geewa, recently freed from a 20-year stint in prison (for a crime of passion), and Swan Robey, home again after being badly injured in a New Year's Eve car accident that killed his wife. Wracked with guilt, Swan recuperates in isolation while Joseph works in the Robey family orchard. The two men are thrown together when Joseph discovers an abandoned baby in the orchard-setting off an improbable road trip. Grace, meanwhile, must address her own guilt for having pined for Swan's love before the accident occurred. Other characters' perspectives are woven in: Ray Ford, the EMT who saved Swan's life; Grace's mother, Ramona, who has been hiding the gun Joseph used 20 years before; and Dawn, the troubled young mother passing through town. Written in the present tense and hopping from past to present, Litzenburger's narrative is pleasantly unmoored. Though the plot is thin and leans heavily on implausible encounters, Litzenburger's prose lends luster and mystery to an otherwise conventional story. (Aug.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

In a small Michigan town, twin tragedies shatter lives and impose a suffocating grief. Swan Robey's car-wrecked body is tended to by the fiercely independent Grace Blackwater, who single-handedly tries to bring Swan and his apple orchard back to life. It's a losing battle, as Swan is lost in the never-ending sorrow born of guilt-he was the driver of the car that crashed into the frozen lake, killing his beloved wife. Grace's uncle, Joseph Geewa, is fresh out of prison, having served two decades for killing the man who shot his son, whose only crime was to love that man's daughter. When Swan and Joseph cross paths, they discover an abandoned baby who serves as a catalyst for a spur-of-the-moment road trip that is nothing short of a journey toward salvation. In her first novel, short story writer Litzenburger looks at grief with an artist's eye, moving back and forth in time to scribe the story of good people brought so low, redemption seems but a whispered hope. Highly recommended.-Beth E. Andersen, Ann Arbor Dist. Lib., MI Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Litzenburger's debut novel, set in rural Michigan, involves the sad doings of families interconnected by fate and beset with accidents and misfortune. After his wife's death, Joseph Geewa raises his adored son Jimmy, only to hear that while away at college and at the point of marriage, Jimmy has been murdered by the incipient bride's father, whom Joseph murders in turn. Released after 20 years in prison, Joseph works in the apple orchard of another widower, Swanton Robey, terribly injured in the car accident that killed his wife. Slightly less damaged is the recently divorced, burned-out EMT Ray Ford, who saves "Swan" Robey's life. The local women have far more vitality. Big, tough Grace, secretly in love with Swan, rides a Harley and relieves stress by firing the pistol she won playing pool. Grace's mother, Ramona, is a feisty old barfly whose remarks to a meddling social worker are the book's high point. When the pushy social worker recommends canasta and slide shows for retirees, Ramona flicks her cigarette and says, "Why don't you just get yourself a rifle and shoot all those seniors in the head. It'd be kinder." Unfortunately, Litzenburger is not always as direct as her liveliest character. A portentous, high-flown voice creeps in from time to time, as at the end of the first chapter, which concludes, "His wife has been dead for exactly six months. Everything worth knowing is a secret." Fortunately, though, the author's ability to create distinct characters who seem like normal people who are making a good faith effort to live the best lives they can. A story told powerfully but confusingly in the present tense and with too many flashbacks.