The Librarianist

DeWitt follows up French Exit with a bittersweet tale of a retired librarian. It’s 2005 in Portland, Ore., but Bob Comet, 71, is stuck in the past. He’s lived alone since he was a young man in the house he inherited from his mother, who died when he was 23. Intensely introverted, Bob has no friends or family and communicates with the world “by walking through it, but mainly by reading about it.” One day, he follows a lost elderly woman out of a convenience store. From her name tag, he deduces she is from the local senior center and returns her there. After a tour, Bob decides to volunteer, and soon he bonds with a motley group of seniors and gradually shares details of his life. He was briefly married, having divorced 45 years earlier just months after his new bride ran off with his charismatic best man, leaving Bob with a “shock of bitterness... as if he’d been unkindly tricked.” Before, the young Bob had plenty of adventures—at 11, he ran away from home and befriended two elderly women who tried to get him to join the theater. Though Bob is quite staid, deWitt imbues the people he meets with color and quirks, leaving a trail of sparks through an otherwise low-key narrative. This one gradually takes hold until it won’t let go. Agent: Doug Stewart, Sterling Lord Literistic. (July)