In starkly poetic prose, Steinke's fourth novel glimpses the intertwining lives of three Brooklynites, each struggling toward enlightenment. There's Mary, a hip would-be poet who's obsessed with her newborn son and who feels neglected by her immature, partying husband; Mary's old college friend Walter, a gay Episcopal priest who's ashamed of his desires for teenage boys; and John, a onetime monk looking to rediscover his sexuality, who offers Mary emotional refuge. This slim novel isn't the first place Steinke (Suicide Blonde
; Up Through Water
; Jesus Saves
) has explored the connections between sexual and religious yearning, but here the relationship is not fully plumbed ("what Mary wanted was technically impossible: to feel God's touch physically manifested"), and the dramatic situations that sparkle with controversy at the novel's opening fizzle at the end without real resolution. The wintry Brooklyn setting feels as cloistered and solemn as a monastery, in which characters spend more time reflecting than interacting. Steinke's great strengths are her eye for fresh, telling details and her ability to draw her very contemporary, urban characters into a dreamy, timeless story space in which the Second Coming might indeed seem plausible. But despite its complicated sense of morality, this novel reads like an exquisite sketch, as if the real bulk of the story has yet to be written. Agent, Sarah Chalfant. (Feb.)
