by Lydia Millet
First published 2012
Susan Lindley finds herself alone after her husband dies. When she inherits her great uncle's Pasadena mansion, she discovers something unexpected: an extensive collection of taxidermied creatures. Susan throws herself into restoring these preserved animals, caring for their fur and feathers, their beaks and bones and shimmering tails. The mansion becomes a refuge for damaged people as well as dead animals. An unfaithful husband arrives. A group of elderly women, each with her own peculiarities, takes up residence. Susan tends to them all while wrestling with the sudden collapse of her family life. As she works among the mounted specimens, Susan must find a way forward through grief and loss toward something resembling hope.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, contemporary, magical-realism, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, grief
Setting: Pasadena
Period: 21st-century
Playaway · Dreamscape Media/Playaway