NIGHT OF THE RADISHES

Set in Minnesota and Mexico, Benítez's engrossing fourth novel recounts the journey of a responsible daughter who travels south to search for her long-lost brother. Thirty-four-year-old Annie Hart Rush is living a mundane life in Minneapolis until her mother's death leaves her $1 million and, far more interestingly, a journal written on her deathbed that forces Annie to rethink her past. She learns that her brother, Hub, who ran away from home at 17, had been sending postcards to her mother all the while that Annie thought he'd disappeared, and she flies to Oaxaca to track him down. After a rough beginning, the novel finds its stride, rewarding persistent readers with a suspenseful plot and well-developed characters. Benítez does a great job of capturing landscapes, both north and south of the border, and she crafts a convincing voice for the mother's journal, which appears in excerpts throughout the book. Fans of the author's previous novels (A Place Where the Sea Remembers ; Bitter Grounds , etc.) will appreciate her detailed descriptions of Annie's emotional growth—much of which happens during the intimate conversations she has with a Berkeley professor who's staying at her hotel (while Annie's husband is at home taking care of the kids). Thanks to Benítez's superb, lyrical writing, this evocative novel manages suspense without sacrificing beautiful prose. (Jan.)