A chorus of candid and poignant voices narrates this novel about a working-class American family who struggles to succeed through five turbulent decades, from the Depression to the Vietnam War. First, Stephen Tollman looks back on his early adventures with his older brother, Philip, as the boys try to shield their younger siblings from the vulnerability of financial ruin. Years later, the vibrant and ambitious Katherine Lennox mesmerizes Stephen and Philip as they both tragically fall in love with her. Then, Philip's son James comes of age in the 1960s, striving to understand his father's deep anger amid a summer of assassinations and civil unrest.
Together, these voices create an insightful, beautiful, and deeply psychological story about the American working class, about the strength and strain of family bonds, and finally, about hardships that haunt the human psyche over a lifetime.