An unrequited love, a passionless marriage, and an exotic adventure all play a role in this "engrossing" novel by a National Book Award–winning author ( The New York Times Book Review). Blomberg has loved Noni for what seems like his whole life. He loves her like he loves the sunset, like he loves the air he breathes. But beautiful, strange, impulsive Noni—who has spent years in a passionless marriage to one of Boston's most notorious swindlers—has only a few months to live; her heart is about to give out. Before she dies, Noni begs Blom to finance a trip to Mexico, where she can obtain a quick divorce and marry the man she loves. That man is not Blom, however, but Gil—an upstanding young gentleman who is to know nothing of Noni's condition. With his own heart aching, Blom arranges the money, and the trio heads south on a journey that will bring them face to face with the mysteries of life and death. Featuring a character based on the author's friend and protégé Malcolm Lowry, this is a deeply personal and psychologically astute novel by a versatile writer who was the recipient of the Pulitzer and Bollingen Prizes for his poetry, among other literary honors.
