What Jonah Knew

The disappearance of 22-year-old Henry Bird, a fiddler in a bluegrass band, drives Graham’s intriguing if flawed debut. When Henry doesn’t return to his mother Helen’s home in Aurora Falls, N.Y., after a performance, the local police are hesitant to get involved, as Henry is an adult and there’s no evidence of foul play. However, Helen is certain that he wouldn’t have abandoned his pregnant girlfriend. Seven years later, with the case still unresolved, Lucie and Matt Pressman and their seven-year-old son, Jonah, return to Aurora Falls, where the couple had been vacationing when the child was born. Jonah has always said that he lived before and had another mother. Could that other mother be Helen, whose life is once again thrown into chaos? Any pretense of investigating Henry’s disappearance is lost amid details of Lucie’s extensive research into reincarnation, which includes plenty about Buddhism, enlightenment, and the soul. In the end, Henry’s memories, as communicated through Jonah, shed light on the musician’s fate. Graham’s ability to convincingly convey her characters’ emotions makes up only in part for the lack of suspense. Those expecting a conventional mystery may feel cheated. (July)