The Strange Inheritance of Leah Fern

In Chin’s whimsical if uneven debut novel (after the memoir Let the Tornado Come), a young woman gets an unexpected inheritance from a neighbor. Leah Fern, 21, receives a large sum of cash from the estate of photographer Essie East, along with Essie’s ashes. In a letter, Essie instructs Leah where to scatter her remains and promises information on the whereabouts of Leah’s mother, Jeannie Starr, a carnival magician who abandoned Leah at age six. As Leah recovers additional letters from Essie on a trail that leads across the U.S. and Canada, Essie’s life story and her relationships with four other artists—particularly her complicated ties to a jeweler and blacksmith—gradually come into focus. The plot is a bit hackneyed and the final twist involving Jeannie predictable, but Chin has a sure hand in showing Leah’s transformation as she processes her childhood neglect and learns to open up. “Have the courage to love,” writes Essie in one of her letters, prompting Leah to forge bonds with those she meets along the way, including the proprietor of an animal sanctuary and a waitress who helps Leah locate an important landmark. Though this often feels well-worn, Chin reaches some admirable heights. Agent: Maggie Cooper, Aevitas Creative Management. (Oct.)