Julia Glass won the 2002 National Book Award for Three Junes. In this her fourth novel, she writes a funny, moving and thought provoking story revolving around a curmudgeonly 70-year-old retired Harvard librarian. Percy Darling’s wife, Poppy, died suddenly 30 years ago. Now, his staid, solitary lifestyle changes dramatically when he allows his older daughter, Clover, to renovate his barn and turn it into Elves and Fairies, a preschool for the wealthy families who live in their suburb outside Boston.

Other characters whose stories unfold and intertwine with Percy’s are his other daughter Trudy, a renowned Boston oncologist; her son Robert, a premed student at Harvard who gets involved with an eco-terrorism group; and Sarah, whose son Ricco attends Elves & Fairies and to whom Percy forms an attachment. Others include Ira, Ricco’s gay teacher and Celestino, a Guatemalan gardener, who Percy meets while Celestino is tending Percy’s neighbor’s garden.

I would recommend this book to discussion groups and to readers who enjoy Elizabeth Berg, Joyce Carol Oates and Anne Tyler.

Allison