This wise and richly symphonic first novel by the award-winning author of "The Coast of Good Intentions" is a thoroughly contemporary family drama that hinges on a riveting medical dilemma.

Michael Byers's award-winning collection The Coast of Good Intentions tells graceful tales of achingly unresolved lives on the Pacific Northwest coast. Byers captures the lives of ferry workers, carpenters, park rangers, and adolescents leaving home, against a backdrop of crab factories, cranberry bogs, the fog-shrouded shore, and the Seattle skyline. A poignant collection, these stories are "richly peopled with compelling characters whose wisdom and experiences span the generations" (San Jose Mercury News).