A family in crisis struggles with major change against the backdrop of the California wildfires in Emmons’ sixth novel...A late-in-the-game magical realism twist might displease some readers, though those familiar with Emmons’ recent works, including Sinking Islands (2021), will likely take the surprise in stride...There’s much to admire here in Emmons’ crisp, evocative prose and thoughtful character studies.
What seems like your basic California wine country empty-nest story goes off in wildly unexpected directions...Evacuation, disaster, homelessness, and flight ensue...Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Pippa has made only one friend, her zoology professor; is a #MeToo story also in the works? But wait, because the biggest twist is yet to come, with an extremely unexpected lurch into the surreal...It feels like the author was riding this plot like a wave; as she says in an author's note in which she reveals that she developed ALS while working on the book, this work 'poured out like an opium-induced dream' and 'took shape as if [her] conscious mind were not involved'...These insights are useful for appreciating this unusual and disconcerting book...From dreary domestic drama to climate apocalypse to fabulist transcendence...it's quite a trip.
A pair of empty nesters and their daughter face mounting crises in the affecting if muddled latest from Emmons...Though Emmons does a good job showing how Lu is adrift and Philippa struggles to fit in, the many threads don’t hang together...In the end, it’s a fragmented collage of a family reeling from changes.
