A Loft

After Jerry Battle's wife Daisy died, it was Rita who rescued him and virtually brought up his two children. Yet it is Jerry alone who is baffled when Rita storms off, finding the title "almost stepmother" somewhat feeble after two decades of devotion. In fact, for such a nice guy, Jerry can wreak an amazing amount of havoc. Now life is about to deal Jerry his toughest hand yet. With his hailing father yearning to flee his care centre and his son teetering on bankruptcy, Jerry's daughter is about to bestow on him a father's worst nightmare. Jerry Battle is Chang-rae Lee's most appealing and urbane of characters who, cruising aloft, tugged back down to earth by this most compelling and unforgettable of human dramas.