A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOKBALTIMORE WOMAN DISAPPEARS DURING FAMILY VACATION, declares the headline. Forty-year-old Delia Grinstead is last seen strolling down the Delaware shore, wearing nothing more than a bathing suit and carrying a beach tote with five hundred dollars tucked inside. To her husband and three almost-grown children, she has vanished without trace or reason.

But for Delia, who feels like a tiny gnat buzzing around her family's edges, "walking away from it all" is not a premeditated act, but an impulse that will lead her into a new, exciting, and unimagined life . . "TYLER DETAILS DELIA'S ADVENTURE WITH GREAT SKILL .

. As so often in her earlier fiction--Celestial Navigation, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, The Accidental Tourist, and her nine other novels--[she] creates distinct characters caught in poignantly funny situations. .

"--The New York Times"UTTERLY COMPELLING. WONDERFULLY SATISFYING. "--Chicago Tribune"A 'PAGE-TURNER' IN THE BEST SENSE .

. One wants to lightly caress the pages of the story because one cares for Ms.

Tyler's touchingly flawed characters. . "--The Baltimore SunFrom the Trade Paperback edition.