Waiting to Surface

A woman copes with tragedy and the banalities of New York life in Listfield’s deeply personal sixth novel. Based on the real-life disappearance of Listfield’s husband, the novel revolves around Sarah Larkin, an art lover who actually enjoys her job as an editor at a glossy women’s mag. Her alcoholic sculptor husband, Todd, though, is less than happy, and flees the disintegrating marriage, ostensibly to visit an old school friend in Florida. Sarah and their six-year-old daughter, Eliza, await his return, but a phone call from a Florida policeman signals trouble: Todd has been staying with a woman and has been reported as missing. Sarah’s life then spreads out into several directions. Most immediate is the investigation into Todd’s disappearance (suicide is one theory), with a skeptical cop, a kindly private eye and Todd’s ex as its cross-purposed cast. Sarah also navigates infighting among the ambitious and sometimes reptilian magazine staff (who mostly feel like something out of a less ambitious novel) and meets a caring and handsome new love interest. Not all of these subplots work well together, but the through line—Sarah’s and Eliza’s attempt to find their new normal—does more than its share to carry the book. (Oct.)