This was my first introduction to the work of Antonya Nelson. She is an excellent writer with sharply honed descriptive powers. I thought that parts of the book, particularly the beginning, were excellent set pieces. I subsequently discovered that the author is a well known short story writer. I will be looking for her collections of stories. Although this novel did not have the strongest narrative, I did not find the disjunctiveness to be a problem. It is always a pleasure to be introduced to new author with such a fine writing style. [I won this book through a giveaway drawing at Goodreads.]