The Good Remains

Power's widely praised debut, Crawling at Night, established her as "a formidable young writer . . . one who can put you in mind of both Mary Gaitskill and Denis Johnson" (The New York Times Book Review). Her second novel is a slyly addictive story set in a small Virginia village in the days leading up to Christmas. Dr. C. R. Ash, a chronic bachelor, is a man in the winter of his soul. During a snowy prelude to a hospital Christmas party, C.R. crosses paths with a world of local characters, living and dead: Betty, his fire-fearing secretary; Dr. Pendleton Compton, his lascivious best friend who mends the hearts of babies; Kirsten, a candy striper who teeters between childhood and child rearing; and two amateur caterers striving to create a Dickensian world of magic. Power's neo-Gothic tale revisits the age-old questions of our fundamental human longings. The wit and ingenuity will delight readers, even as the characters leave their desperate marks on the heart.