Lucy lives on the twenty-fourth floor Owen lives in the basement Its fitting then that they meet in the middle -- stuck between two floors of a New York City apartment building on an elevator rendered useless by a citywide blackout After theyre rescued Lucy and Owen spend the night wandering the darkened streets and marveling at the rare appearance of stars above Manhattan But once the power is back so is reality Lucy soon moves abroad with her parents while Owen heads out west with his fatherThe brief time they spend together leaves a mark And as their lives take them to Edinburgh and to San Francisco to Prague and to Portland Lucy and Owen stay in touch through postcards occasional e-mails and phone calls But can they -- despite the odds -- find a way to reuniteSmartly observed and wonderfully romantic Jennifer E Smiths new novel shows that the center of the world isnt necessarily a place Sometimes it can be a person.
