The People We Keep

Music and the generosity of strangers provide healing in Larkin’s emotionally expansive latest (after Swimming for Sunlight). In 1994, 16-year-old April performs her songs at open mic nights around her small hometown in Upstate New York. Then, after her disapproving father destroys her guitar, she strikes out on her own and lands in Ithaca, where, over the course of a few intense months, she establishes something like a found family. But a betrayal and a fear that she’d be found out for lying about her age prompt April to flee rather than face rejection by those she’s come to love. Fast forward three years and April is still on the road—and when the opportunity to create a home comes once again, she must choose whether to run away or go all in and finally discover whether art and stable relationships have to be mutually exclusive. Some parts of April’s story (such as the career path of her high school sweetheart) come off as contrived, but several of the supporting characters feel authentic, as does the sometimes harrowing depiction of April’s life as a young woman traveling and performing solo night after night. This hopeful story will move readers. (Aug.)