In the early months of George W.
Bush's presidency, senatorial aide Natasha gets engaged to a divorced Episcopalian priest, Michael. The 16-year age gap between them doesn't seem insurmountable, nor does Michael's departure from the priesthood after deciding he's not up to it. They're both looking forward to a bright future together. But while Natasha is on holiday in Jamaica the World Trade Centre is attacked on the morning Michael was supposed to be having breakfast there. In the day and a half of alcohol-soaked confusion before she can get him on the phone, Natasha is raped, and, feeling complicit, she can't bring herself to tell him. Overshadowed, but inextricably linked, with the disaster that shattered America's psyche, this couple's crisis is no less seismic for them. Bausch weaves the personal and political together so well that, even if it sounds like a crass, clumsy idea at first, each strand complements and feeds back into the other, to powerful effect.
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