<DIV><b>Alice Hoffman </b>is at her haunting, thought-provoking best with these interconnected stories about a Long Island family, the Samuelsons, and the lessons in survival and transformation that life brings to every family...<p>"Pulls the reader in effortlessly...Hoffman has the power to make you really laugh and really cry." --<b>USA Today</b><P> "Moving and deadpan funny...Epiphanies about passion, pain, and resiliency induce smiles and shivers in equal measure." --<b>Entertainment Weekly</b> </div>