A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR
"Elaborate and playful...Honest and deeply felt....Here is the Quindlen
wit, the sharp eye for the details of class and manners, [and] the
ardent reading of domestic lives."
--THE NEW YORK TIMES
It is the 1960s, in suburban New York City. Maggie and her family, are
in the thrall of her powerful grandfather Jack Scanlan. In the summer of
her twelfth year, Maggie is desperately trying to master the object
lessons her grandfather fills her head with. But there is too much going
on to concentrate. Everything at home is in upheaval, her grandfather is
changing, and Maggie is unsure if what she wants is worth having....