Bad Nature

Courage debuts with the devilishly alluring tale of a terminally ill New Yorker who embarks on a road trip to kill her abusive and long-estranged father. Hester, a high-paid corporate lawyer, has just turned 40 when she receives a breast cancer diagnosis and is told she has six months to live. Following a sleepless night, she reflects on how she was “always going to kill my father,” ever since she was 13 and her parents separated. An artist, he now lives in Death Valley, Calif., with his new wife. After hitting the road, Hester picks up a hitchhiker named John, whose punk attire reminds her of her college boyfriend, prompting her to pay a visit to him in Pittsburgh. Hester’s memories and her cross-country progress meld into a hazy dream logic, and she wonders if John, a photographer documenting Superfund sites, is merely a “figment,” though she sees him again after crossing Indiana, and agrees to drive him to a former ammunition factory. Along the way, she reflects on her polluter clients’ quiet settlements with the EPA. The layered narrative grows intriguingly complex as Hester approaches her destination. Readers will find this a surprisingly moving portrait of a deeply wounded woman. (Apr.)