SKYLIGHT CONFESSIONS

Writing at the height of her powers, Alice Hoffman conjures three generations of a family haunted by love. John is cool, practical and deliberate - the polar opposite of dreamy Arlyn - yet the two are drawn powerfully together even when it is clear they are bound to bring each other grief. Their marriage traces a map no one should follow, leading them and their children to a house made of glass in the Connecticut countryside, to the avenues of Manhattan, and to the blue waters of Long Island Sound. Glass breaks, love hurts, and, like all families, John and Arlyn's makes its own rules. Ultimately, it falls to their grandson, Will, to walk a path of ruin and redemption in order to solve the emotional puzzle of his family.