Universal and essential, the heart-breaking story of an ordinary American family shaped by tragedy

Michael is a precocious kid, smart and funny, obsessed with books and music.

His sister Celia is the sensible one in the family: tougher than the boys, unshakeably certain about how the world works.

And then there's Alec, the most ambitious and also the most sensitive, growing up in the shadow of his older siblings.

While all three are still young, the course of their lives is changed forever. In a family marked by tragedy, Michael, Celia and Alec struggle for years to save one another from the destructive legacy of guilt.

Weaving together the voices of five family members, Adam Haslett imagines how a single event can define many lives, unfolding a rich and painful novel that has all the makings of an American classic.