New York: Putnam, 1998. dj. First edition - The author's first novel, the story of a young woman, living in seclusion with her mother in a small Illinois town, who is introduced at her mother's funeral to some lively and eccentric Southern relatives she did not know even existed. Dust jacket praise from Stewart O'Nan (who described it as a 'true midwestern gothic, part romance and part family saga') and Robert Olen Butler (who called this 'a haunting novel, rich with sensual detail..an exciting literary debut'). ISBN: 0-399-143319.