Having written off the decadence of her youth, Caroline Dunlap reluctantly returns home after graduation and finds her recently divorced father obsessing about a former housekeeper and her younger brother becoming increasingly absorbed by an ambitious papier-mGchT project. A first novel. 50,000 first printing. Caroline Dunlap has graduated college and returned to her father's house in the genteel upper-class world of suburban Boston for lack of a better option. Her sensitive, 10-year-old brother, Eliot, is quietly launching a search for his baby-sitter, Rosita, who his father, Jack, summarily fired six months ago. Faith, Jack's ex-wife, who is still in the process of recovering from the nervous breakdown that precipitated the end of her marriage, is in town to see a play Eliot is starring in and visit some friends. The characters are all stuck in a sense, in need of a push to disrupt their apathy. For Caroline, the push comes in the form of Stephan, a handsome documentary director whose intentions might not be so noble; for Eliot, it is his quest for Rosita; for Faith, it is a charming Frenchman who romances her; and for Jack, it is a startling revelation about Rosita that will cause him to reexamine his future. Shattuck's debut is quiet and somewhat slow paced, but ultimately it's a funny and moving character study. Kristine Huntley Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved A generously portrayed and richly appointed debut. -- Kirkus Reviews An excellent novel about feeling, complex people.....every bit as affecting as Richard Yates's magnificent Revolutionary Road . -- Ann Beattie In her poised and astute first novel. . . Shattuck unleashes a skewering gift for social commentary. -- New York Times Pitch perfect. . .depicts — with grace, humor and insight — a Mayflower-pedigree family with a staggering amount of heart. -- Los Angeles Times There are at least 15 certifiable pleasures in every paragraph of this charming, intelligent, and exceedingly well-crafted debut. -- Helen Shulman This fine first novel . . .deserves a place beside Cheever's Stories and Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. -- Newsday [A] sterling novel; a deliciously comic and deeply profound look at an American family, indeed at America itself. -- Binnie Kirshenbaum [A] stunning first novel. Jessica Shattuck's romantic comedy will remind readers of the wit and energy of Cheever's Wapshot Chronicles . -- Maureen Howard [A] thoughtful and elegant first novel, full of insight and humor. -- Roxana Robinson [A]ll that the title promises and more. It is a terrific debut by a talented writer. -- Jill McCorkle Jessica Shattuck lives in Norwich, Vermont. This is her first book. gd