White Bird in a Blizzard

I am sixteen when my mother steps out of her skin one frozen January afternoon—pure self, atoms twinkling like microscopic diamond chips around her perhaps the chiming of a clock, or a few bright flute notes in the distance—and disappears. No one sees her leave, but she is gone. Laura Kasischke's first novel. Suspicious River . was hailed by the critics as "extremely powerful" ( The Los Angeles Times ), "amazing" ( The Boston Globe ), and "a novel of depth, beauty, and insight" ( The Seattle Tim