cover image Lucy Boomer

Lucy Boomer

Russell Hill. Ballantine Books, $16 (202pp) ISBN 978-0-345-37225-3

A vividly drawn search for meaning in a dreary life frames this first novel. Divorced, in his late 30s and living in a bleak apartment complex, Jack Rabbit barely scrapes by teaching history classes at three different community colleges in the Los Angeles area. When 93-year-old Lucy Boomer, a secretary--and perhaps more--to five U.S. presidents in the early 20th century, promises her journals to Jack if he takes her to Iowa, he slips her out of her nursing home and begins the long drive. Soon he picks up Ahna, a free-spirited and alluring hitchhiker who helps care for Lucy. For several days, over fast food eaten in cheap motels, Lucy's compelling tales and powerful hold on life confuse and spook Ahna and Jack. During the journey Lucy conveys her lessons--that life is there for the living, and that one should take action rather than exist in stasis. While occasional suggestions of supernatural occurrences weaken Hill's narrative, his insightful characterization and effective evocation of atmosphere give the novel substantial power. (Feb.)