In the final days of Borders, I loaded up on books in a sort of “judge a book by its cover” grab-n-go frenzy. I grabbed this title because it sounded familiar to me. I’m not sure why. I thought there was a movie of the same title, or something.

It turns out I have read another of Sue Miller’s works, While I Was Gone. I recall nothing of this book, although I’m sure I read it, because it’s on my bookshelf – and nothing gets shelved without first being read.

I suspect that a few months, or even a few weeks from now, I will feel the same way about this book. Nothing against Sue Miller. She has a lovely writing style that easily wraps the reader into this cozy world, knowing characters like old friends. But, the characters themselves are forgettable and the semblance of a plot is fairly loose.

To help me remember when I read this post again at some undetermined point in the future, the plot is something like this: Billy (short for Wilhemina) writes a play that is a vague nod to her lover’s death on 9/11. The lover’s sister, Leslie, comes to see the play and brings a man she harbors feelings for, but also wishes to introduce to Billy. Leslie’s husband, Pearce, is just kind of there. He seems like a decent fellow. Rafe is the actor who plays the main character in Billy’s play. He and Billy have a fling but he is dealing with his wife, Lauren, who suffers from Lou Gehrig’s disease.

It’s a real hoot, this tale.

It only took me two days to read, mostly because I skimmed through everything but the dialogue. If I thought I missed something important, I’d backtrack just enough to figure out what happened.

Perhaps this is why I never remember the plots of books I’ve read.

On to the next one!