First published 2003
Pete Ross sits in his childhood bedroom, his career as a successful chef destroyed along with his marriage and role as a father. His mother hovers nearby in their Los Feliz home, a constant reminder of how far he has fallen. Down the street, Alice Black waits for her married boyfriend to leave his wife while her aunt Kate lives in a retirement home, lost in memories of their ancestor William James. Helen Harland struggles as a minister whose new congregation remains unmoved by her services. These fractured lives intersect at Helen's midweek religious gatherings, where Pete, Alice, and the others search for connection amid their personal wreckage. Their individual longings slowly merge into something larger as they seek not just romance and friendship but meaning itself in what becomes their own variety show of spiritual experience.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, relationships, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, redemption
Setting: Los Feliz, Retirement Home
Period: Contemporary
384 pages · Hardcover · Knopf