The Floating World

Babst’s tightly written debut focuses on the fractured Boisdoré clan, whose familial tensions are brought to a head in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Six weeks after the storm, Joe, an absent-minded furniture maker separated from his wife, Tess, a psychologist and the breadwinner, moves in with his father, Vincent, who has dementia. Tess and Joe split because she is furious with him for failing to rescue their daughter, stubborn 28-year-old Cora, from New Orleans after she refused to evacuate. Their other child, Del, returns home after having suddenly lost her job in New York to find Cora in a near-catatonic state. Cora, who has a history of mental illness, went through an experience during the storm that left her traumatized. After Del discovers a body in a house where Cora weathered part of Katrina, Del and Cora become increasingly convinced that Cora may be responsible. As the sisters try to figure out who committed the crime, Babst skillfully makes the reader feel Del’s desperate fears about Cora and the sisters’ frustrations with their elders. She’s also adept at pitting Tess’s pushy nature against Joe’s more passive tendencies. Despite a discordant ending, this is a riveting novel about the inescapable pull of family. (Oct.)