"I killed my mother. Like the existential quest of Richard Wright's Bigger Thomas or Dostoevsky's Raskolnikov, Anita Palatino's journey is one you won't forget. In this gripping new novel, Catherine Gammon will take you into the psychological danger zone of desperate longing and unfulfilled desire before returning you safely home. Set in New York City, the novel plumbs the tumultuous inner lives of people searching for something as simple to name and as difficult to achieve as understanding: there is Anita, a young woman tormented by the abuse and mistreatment of her family; Cruz Garcia, a Salvadoran immigrant wrestling with his personal demons; his nephew Tomás, in the States to earn money for the family he left behind; Sister Monica Luz, a young nun and mother figure to Anita; Sydney Booker, the world-weary detective who knows more than he wants to about people and life; and Magda Ramirez, a big-hearted widow from Colombia struggling to carry on."--P. [2] of cover.