In the StoryWhere the Absent Sing
A body rises from the bayou. Lena recognizes her brother. She has never had a brother. In Louisiana, identification should return a dead man to his history. Lena Broussard’s account complicates everything: gestures, a name, family memories no one can confirm. She knows this man the way someone knows a brother. Saying so immediately makes her a suspect.
Open the novel ↗A moment in the opening pages
She knew the building’s failures by the way they began. This one would not last. The compressor timer stuck on damp Mondays, ever since a technician replaced a part with the almost-correct model. In three minutes, air would flow again through the ceiling grilles, fine dust would stir above the sorting table, and Odette, in her glass office, would pretend not to have noticed.Read the excerpt ↗