By Richard Powers
Every year the cranes return to Kearney, Nebraska. They mate for life and are exceedingly loyal to their family.
It is during crane season that Mark Schluter flips his truck and suffers brain damage. His faithful sister, Karin, returns to Kearney to care for him. There’s only one problem: he doesn’t recognize her as his sister. She looks like Karin, speaks like Karin, and knows the things only Karin would know, but she is an impostor, at least to Mark.
Enter Gerald Weber, the man who is famous for writing about such brain disorders. Karin contacts the neurologist, hoping for some help with her brother. But Gerald is going through his own crisis: his latest book has been panned, and the word on the street is that he merely exploits patients for his anecdotal writings.
Can he help Mark? Can Karin and Mark connect again? And just who is Barbara Gillespie, Mark’s faithful and wise nurse’s aide? All will be revealed when the cranes return to Kearney.
I picked this up because it won the National Book Award. I couldn’t put it down because the story is so compelling.
11/29/06
2 comments:
This sort of sounds like The Dive from Clausen's Pier -- do you think I'd like it?
I think you might like it, Roberta. Though the conflict is different (Karin loves her brother and won't leave him, even if he doesn't recognize her), it still is the "life after the accident" sort of story. This one is complicated by the mystery of the actual accident, as well as the famed neurologist who sees Mark while going through his own kind of breakdown.
Post a Comment