Sara Paretsky's genius made Chicago private eye V.I.
Warshawski a household name. Now the New York Times
bestselling author explores an unseen corner of the city she
loves. In Ghost Country she has written a parable
for the millennium, a powerful, haunting novel of magic and
miracles, of four troubled people who meet beneath Chicago's
shadowy streets--and of the woman whose mysterious
appearance changes all of their lives forever.
They
come from different worlds and meet at a time of crisis for
all of them. Luisa, a drunken diva fallen on hard times,
discovers on Chicago's streets a drama greater than any she
has experienced onstage. Madeleine, a homeless woman, sees
the Virgin Mary's blood seeping through a concrete wall
beneath a luxury hotel. Mara, a rebellious adolescent cast
out by her wealthy grandfather, becomes the catalyst for a
war between the haves and have-nots as she searches among
society's castoffs for the mother she never
knew.
As the three women fight for their right to
live and worship beneath the hotel, they find an ally in
Hector Tammuz, an idealistic young psychiatrist risking his
career to treat the homeless regardless of the
cost. Tensions in the city are escalating when a mysterious
woman appears during a violent storm. Erotic to some,
repellent to others, she never speaks; the street people
call her Starr. And as she slowly transforms their lives,
miracles begin to happen in a city completely unprepared for
the outcome.
In this extraordinary novel, Sara
Paretsky gives voice to the dispossessed, to men and women
struggling to bury the ghosts of the past, fighting for
their lives in a world hungry for miracles, terrified of
change. A magical, unforgettable story of myth and madness,
hope and revelation, Ghost Country is Sara Paretsky's
most eloquent and ambitious work yet.