In an era of literary novels peopled by overearnest automatons, Current Wisdom is a welcome and wise antidote. -- Michael J. Vaughn, author of Frosted Glass
Watson’s genius ear for dialogue further enriches this complex, unforgettable novel. -- James Spencer, THE PILOTS - Putnam 2003, Berkley Books 2004
Product Description
Mimi Malone, forty, first grade teacher and jewelry designer - wife or a widow? 1995, St. Charles, Illinois, and Harold has been missing for two years. Jack McClosky, aging detective, tries his hand in the search and learns her secret sorrow. Mimi's three friends, Jan, Mary Beth, Link, lend support, but their own struggles distract them.
Family - Alice, Grandma Tinker, not Mimi's grandmother by blood, Edie, Pops, Mimi's Car Washing brothers, Mickey and Teddy, gift Mimi with their dreams, wisdom, biases, irritation, and affection. And sometimes with hard cash.
And then there's the Jewish priest, her counselor and confidant.
When Mimi places the search in her own hands and travels across the country to Downieville, Idaho, she meets along the way, Henri, the friendly French waiter, red haired Suzy, a clairvoyant owner of a diner, picture possessing Melva and Ida, sisters and innkeepers of The Honey Bears Bed and Breakfast, and huge Hank, the bartender at the Cattle Drive. All have their own stories and all lend pieces to the puzzle of Mimi's life.
After returning to St. Charles, she meets Stephan-the-night-boy, a precocious nine year old and budding artist. God taketh away, but he also giveth. Mimi's life changes, but not the way she planned.
Is she wife or widow? Is she the woman in her painting, the ravaged runner? Mimi, it seems, is the real missing person. It is herself she must find in the end.
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