Library Journal? 11/01/2014
In this sequel to her debut novel, Deafening (2003), Itani picks up her characters' stories one year after the end of World War I. It is close to the holidays in the small Canadian town of Deseronto, Ontario. Kenan, grievously wounded physically and psychologically by the horrors of war, is just now starting to leave the safety of his home, venturing out at night. His wife, Tress, struggles to break through his grief even as she mourns their inability to have children. Tress's Aunt Maggie is the young woman's supportive confidante, though her own marriage to Am continues to erode following the deaths of their young children during a diphtheria epidemic decades earlier. Am's patient presence draws out Kenan, yet Am is still losing Maggie, who is caught up in the quiet appeal of Luc, the choral director, who is preparing her for her three solos in the annual Deseronto New Year's Eve concert.
