"Nuanced. . . . Schottenfeld shines in his well-wrought depiction of Millie's decline. [A] morality tale."--Publishers Weekly
"A marvel--a book that somehow manages to be both tense and comforting, brainy and plainspoken. A book that is calm on the surface but underneath there is a strong current of mystery. Is the narrator what he seems? Is the widow? Are we to trust either of them? Are we to trust anyone, even--or especially--ourselves? This is a wonderful book, full of pain and pleasure, despair and hope--full of life, in other words."--Brock Clarke, author of Who Are You, Calvin Bledsoe?
"A tightly calibrated tale of isolation and connection. As he proved in his first novel, Stephen Schottenfeld writes about work--the dailiness of it, the paycheck of it, the way it slowly and inevitably shapes a life--with an authority few contemporary novelists can match. This is realistic fiction that manages to depict the hopes and the failings, the self-deception and the grace, of recognizable human characters--our fellow citizens--with a vividness that both illuminates and elevates, perhaps even unites."--Alice McDermott, author of The Ninth Hour
"Everything you want in a novel: exquisitely imagined, big-hearted, full of grace, with unforgettable characters you will laugh with, cry with, and root for. Schottenfeld has given us a beautiful story for our times--a room you will want to settle in and think of as home."--Paul Yoon, author of Run Me to Earth