The Melting Season

The Melting Season gets off to an irresistible start when its heroine, Catherine "Moonie" Madison, steals a pile of money and hits the highway, leaving behind her small Nebraska town and very complicated family. In precise and arresting descriptions and lucid, lyrical prose, Jami Attenberg captures the landscapes and textures of the midwest and west, and both the liberation and vulnerability of being a woman on the open road. Moonie makes her way to Las Vegas where, amid the city's splendid artifice, she builds real friendships that lead her to confront the truth about herself and her past, and help her to forge a way forward. There are some dazzling and very funny Vegas set pieces and unforgettable characters, but what's most enduring and moving about The Melting Season is that underpinning the adventure and desert glitter is real contemplation--of the nature of love, friendship, and selfhood.

Jami Attenberg paints a rich lovely portrait of Catherine Madison, a woman running away from her past and finding answers to her life in a haunting new friendship. I picked up Attenberg's book and couldn't put it down. The writing is beautiful and the story will stay with you for a long time.