Turning Bones

In "From Our House," Lee Martin explored his youth, growing up with a father who must cope with a split-second decision that cost him both of his arms. In "Turning Bones," with the help of his ancestors, Martin explores his middle age, looking back on his marriage, the question of children, the death of a friend. Reconstructing the lives of his forebears from what facts he can discern and the skin and bones that he inherited, Martin not so much stalks his ancestors as he is stalked and guided by them; they tease him with their shadows so that he finally has "the peace of his confession." The beautiful concluding chapter confirms, in more ways than one, that his inquiry was worth the trip.