I gave this book four stars -- a rating i usually reserve for exceptional literature -- because while I don't usually like this kind of story that has no plot and is all about emotions -- plus using flashbacks a cionvention I also dislike -- this book held my interest all the way through. Quite the achievement. ( )

What makes someone family? What's magic and what's a trick? Very human characters just trying to make sense of the world they find themselves in. ( )

I enjoyed this book a long and but there are a few things that keep me from rating it higher. The biggest of those things is what I felt to be a very dissatisfying ending.

I’d still recommend it to friends, though. I’d give it a 3.5 stars but rounding down. ( )

Loved the story and the protagonist. Felt like the last bits were a bit muddled but that could be my own obtuseness. A wonderful book. ( )

Sabine lost her beloved husband who was a very successful magician. Making an appearance on the Johnny Carson show was one of the highlights of Parsifal's career.

Parsihal was gay. Sabine lived with he and his partner. He married Sabine so there was a clear path for her to inherit their possessions.

Unknown to Sabine, Parsihal had another life with a mother and sisters in Nebraska. They came to California to learn more of his life after he died. There were many tremendous secrets, some of which were discovered when they visited Sabine.

Later, she chose to visit his family in Nebraska. It is there that she learned why he felt the need to suddenly leave Nebraska and leave his past behind.

While I very much liked this book, I was taken aback by the level of violence, both in her husband's early life, and in his family's interactions when she stayed a bit with them in Nebraska.

It was a lot of violence, and too much for me to rate the book highly. Still, I recommend it, as I like all of Patchett's books and her writing style. ( )