Hope's Cadillac

Patricia Page, whose stories generate enthusiastic praise when they appear in the New Yorker, brings back the heady days of the late 1960s in a touching journey of the heart. Hope's Cadillac is filled with the small, vivid details of this freewheeling decade, and Hope, its often-disheveled hero, is sure to capture your heart. Hope Fairman-wife, mother, indifferent housekeeper-watches her world disintegrate as her successful husband divorces her and wins custody of their two children. In despair, Hope begins to look for a way to survive the financial and emotional chaos that remains. But at this point, instead of hanging on to cliches or giving in to soggy despair, Hope begins to look for the things that feel true to her. What she learns, and where she goes make for a delightfully funny, poignant, and hopeful book. Patricia Page has an unfailing ear for the descriptions and dialogue that bring the optimistic 1960s culture to life. Unsentimental, but never harsh, Page reminds us that sometimes the greatest realizations come quietly, in their own good time.