The Ghost at the Table

A disjointed family gathers for Thanksgiving at the New England home of the second of the three Fiske daughters. Frances, the middle daughter, has gone to great lengths to bring about a reunion with their father. Cynthia, the youngest, has come East reluctantly, but she's at work on a book about Mark Twain's daughters and she plans to visit the Twain house. Cynthia's friend Carita warns, "Families are toxic." This particular family is just that. Since their teens, Frances and Cynthia have interpreted the circumstances of their mother's death differently. When their aged father reappears, the old dissonance is brought to the boiling point. As Carita puts it, "Blood is bloody."


Genre: Literary Fiction