I so looked forward to reading this book after the accolades bestowed upon it in the New York Times. I did enjoy its amazing prose, the clever and amusing writing and the story line. But I was not overwhelmed. And, of course, the fact that the author is a professor at my alma mater, U of Wisconsin, Madison made the book appealing.
This is a coming of age story and a poignant and sad one. The main character, Tassie, is the daughter of a farmer. She is a student at the university in Troy, but I couldn't help but think it was really Madison. She gets a job as a nanny for a couple who is adopting a biracial baby. The story takes place very soon after 9/11, but the author does not really get around to that until late in the story, although it is alluded to earlier.
Her brother enlists in the army. His tragic end is crucial to the story. Tassie gets involved with a "Brazilian" who turns out to be not what she thought he was. There is a lot of that in this story. I won't give away more, but will just say that it's an engaging and very poignant story with long passages of beautiful prose, sometimes difficult to get through.
