First published 1992
In Washington D.C., ordinary people face extraordinary losses every day. A mother watches her grown son drift away from the family that raised him. An elderly woman confronts the disappearance of neighbors she has known for decades. A father realizes his memories of better times may be slipping beyond reach. These residents of the nation's capital carry on with work and family obligations while grief touches every corner of their lives. Some lose spouses to death or divorce. Others watch friendships dissolve without explanation. The city itself changes around them, erasing familiar landmarks and displacing longtime communities. Each person discovers that loss comes in many forms. Childhood homes get torn down. Adult children move away and rarely call. The past becomes harder to hold onto with each passing year. Yet these men and women continue to build relationships, raise families, and create meaning from what remains. Their stories reveal how people adapt when the foundations of their lives shift beneath them.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, urban, family-drama
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, slice-of-life
Setting: Washington D.C.
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
250 pages · Hardcover · William Morrow & Co