Inhabited

In this hopeful novel, Quimby (Monument Road) portrays two lives and a small city at a moment of change. Meg Mogrin is a real estate agent, and therefore naturally aligned with development interests, but she’s also a member of the Grand Junction, Colo., Homeless Coalition. In her past she has been a teacher, a wife, a sister, and something a bit more than a witness to the death of a serial killer. Isaac Samson is a homeless man with a library science degree who functions well most days but who is also troubled by voices and conspiracy theories. Lew Hungerman is considering moving the headquarters of Betterment Health to town at the same time that homeless crusader Wesley Chambers wants the city to approve a permanent tent city for the homeless. The lives of Quimby’s finely drawn characters interweave to produce a panorama as wide and full of light as the near-desert setting. Even his minor figures add significantly to the whole, and his skillful and delightful turns of phrase make reading this evocative novel a pleasure.[em] (Oct.) [/em]