In Parker's latest portrait of urban angst (after The Tragic Flaw
) a young African-American married couple in turmoil hurtle toward a violent showdown. College sweethearts Joshua and Kathryn, together for 12 years, with a young son, are haunted by the past and suffering in the present. Kathryn, a survivor of the 9/11 terrorist attack on the Pentagon struggles to overcome an intense depression intensified by a car accident involving her family and her discovery that Joshua has been unfaithful. Joshua is equally upset by the knowledge that Kathryn was promiscuous before they married and by another college-era incident: the stabbing of his best friend, Diego. Parker depicts scenes from the couple's life with sporadic eloquence and grit, but fails to make a convincing argument for the lurid conclusion. Is the marriage afflicted by cultural malaise (Parker inserts descriptions of inane TV/film segments) or the strain parenthood can put upon troubled young parents? Parker's resolution is unsettling, the book too short and underdeveloped. (Dec.)
