<p><b>An ex-jazz drummer wants nothing more than to be a good father in this moving family novel by the <i>New York Times</i>–bestselling author of <i>The Dutch House</i>.</b></p><p>When his lover takes away his son, he&apos;s left only with his Beale Street, Memphis bar. He hires a young waitress named Fay Taft who brings with her a desperate, dangerous brother, Carl, and the possibility of new intimacy. Nickel finds himself consumed with Fay and Carl&apos;s dead father—Taft—obsessing over and reconstructing the life of a man he never met.</p><p>A stunning artistic achievement, Taft confirms Ann Pathcett&apos;s standing as one of the most gifted writers of her generation and reminds us of our deepest instincts to protect the people we love.</p><p><b>“What could be merely a literary parlor trick—keeping three stories in the air at once—becomes…as resonant as a blues song, each story harmonizing with and answering others…. Expect miracles when you read Ann Patchett’s fiction.”—<i>New York Times</i></b></p><p><b><i> </i></b></p><p><b>“A moving emblem of fatherhood’s rarely explored passion.”—<i>Los Angeles Times</i></b></p><p><b><i> </i></b></p><p><b>"Patchett writes with remarkable conviction and attention to telling detail…. [She] is excellent at portraying the steady love and interest that holds the family members together, even though that love and interest isn&apos;t always successful in preserving the members from danger.”—Jane Smiley, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of <i>Golden Age</i></b></p><p><b><i> </i></b></p><b>“Strikingly original.”—<i>Kirkus Reviews</i></b>