A Stranger Comes to Town

Schwartz (Leaving Brooklyn) explores the nature of identity in this eloquent novel. At the center is successful TV actor Joe Marzino, who has amnesia after being struck by a bicyclist on a street in Manhattan. Joe’s guileless and relaxed narration focuses on his baby steps back into his life, during which he’s often shepherded by his beautiful wife, Norah. She advises Joe to keep his condition a secret, so he won’t lose the lucrative job as the star of a formulaic detective series that’s keeping an opulent roof over their heads. There’s no lack of revelations, like the fact that Norah earns money on the side as a nude model and that, in Joe’s teenage years, his twin sister, Susan, took the blame for him in a drunk driving incident that left a victim in a wheelchair. This, and other darker incidents from Joe’s past, trigger a deeper examination of his own character and keep the plot moving. A more profound thread follows Joe’s efforts to better understand his relationships with others, through which he grapples with the dizzying possibility that he’s been superficial and self-involved his whole life. Though the narrative deals with serious issues, Schwartz writes with a breezy economy and fluid sense of style. It’s a welcome return from an accomplished writer. (Oct.)