by Walker Percy
First published 1989
Will Barrett stands in a New York telescope shop, twenty-five years old and drifting. He left the South behind but carries no clear vision of what comes next. The telescope he purchases that summer day promises to bring distant objects into focus, but Will has no idea it will reshape his entire world. He takes the instrument to Central Park, scanning the trees for a peregrine falcon. The bird remains elusive, but through the eyepiece Will discovers something unexpected: a beautiful young woman. The accidental sighting ignites an immediate and consuming love that pulls him from his detached existence. This chance encounter sets Will on a journey that stretches far beyond the boundaries of Central Park. His search for the woman becomes something larger, a quest that forces him to confront questions he has avoided. Where does he belong? Who is he meant to become? Will must navigate between the Southern roots he abandoned and the Northern life that feels foreign, seeking answers about identity and purpose in a world that offers few clear directions.
Genres: literary-fiction, american-fiction, 20th-century, contemporary
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, quest
Setting: Central Park, New York
Period: 20th Century
323 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Ivy Books