First published 1998
Joe Berman has worked as a plumber in Connecticut for decades. At fifty nine, he faces the death of his beloved wife. The loss throws him into months of anger and defiance as he struggles with questions about existence and faith. Berman came to America as an eighteen year old immigrant, building a life through hard work and devotion to his family. Now widowed, he must find new meaning in a world that feels empty and hostile. The story moves between his current crisis and memories of his earlier years, showing how an ordinary man's life shaped him for this terrible test. Berman fights to understand what life, death, and God mean when everything he treasured has been taken away. His battle is both deeply personal and universal, examining how people endure when grief threatens to destroy them.
Genres: literary-fiction, american-fiction, 20th-century, contemporary, adult-fiction, family-drama
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: character-driven, coming-of-age, redemption
Setting: Connecticut
Period: 20th Century
192 pages · Paperback · Syracuse University Press