The story of a family deeply affected by the sudden disappearance of one of three siblings. To say much more is almost certainly to involve a spoiler. The reading is often extremely painful, and will be most painful to those who will most appreciate the story.

The book was nominated for the Booker Prize (one of two American books so nominated).

Barbara Kingsolver said of the book in her New York Times review: “A novel so readably juicy and surreptitiously smart, it deserves all the attention it can get.”

Here’s the YouTube video of Donald and Gua, one of the models Fowler used for her novel:

 

 

 

And here’s a video of one of the very many interviews with Ms. Fowler available at YouTube: