Gone

Hanauer's latest domestic crisis novel (after Sweet Ruin) examines how issues of control and power affect the delicate balance of family dynamics. Eve Adams's comfortable suburban Massachusetts life gets violently restructured when, after a dinner date to celebrate the publication of her book, her husband drives the babysitter home and doesn't return. Left alone with a pubescent and unstable 14-year-old daughter, a placid 8-year-old son, bills to pay, and her nutritional consulting business to maintain, Eve resentfully assumes responsibility for it all and tries to steel herself against the pain of Eric's sudden absence. Hanauer reveals that Eric was once a successful sculptor, but as his star faded and Eve's nascent career as a nutritionist began to take off, Eric slumped into a deep depression. Tracking back and forth between their stories, readers witness Eve attempting to juggle the needs of her children and those of her dangerously obese clients, while Eric, visiting his mom in Arizona, teaches kung fu part-time and wallows in self-pity. Though he attempts to reestablish a connection with his family back home, the question remains: Once a person is gone, how does he go back to a life that has moved on without him? And can those left behind welcome back their prodigal father? Hanauer's treatment of Eve and Eric's%E2%80%94as well as their children's%E2%80%94predicaments ring true with emotional clarity, and her eye for detail and ear for conversational patterns lends credibility to this stark family drama. (June)