Bought from the Los Osos Library book sale today.

This story spans generations, but the protagonist is in the present. Is it Marne, the bitter young woman who has come home for a while? Or her mother Jane? It seems that Jane figures most in the actions, so I'll call it for her.

Marne has returned home from California and doesn't know what her next move will be. She is irritated by her mother, as she has been for years, and is again finding herself attracted to her brother Alex's best friend Ray. Resistant to anything too intimate, Marne nevertheless decides to try him on.

Meanwhile, Jane has been playing chess with Ray's grandmother Ada. Ada may have the key to a mystery Jane has been mulling over since she was a child: what happened to her father. Ada's father Luce had been seeing Ada on the sly when one day he disappeared. As the chess games continue, Jane pumps Ada.

This isn't a straightforward mystery, in which the characters clearly state what they want or what they want to know. They may not know. There are a few odd bits that had me wondering about the timeline. For example, Marne mentions being a teen "thirty years ago" in one place, and then later notes that she is in her thirties. Also, Ray is Ada's son while Marne is Luce's grandson. Possible of course, just a little confusing.

I found it absorbing but wished it hadn't jumped around quite so much, from character to character. I wanted to spend a bit more time with just one.

Inside the box.