The Problem With Murmur Lee

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The Problem With Murmur Lee

BY CONNIE MAY FOWLER (DOUBLEDAY, $21.95)

It must be puzzling to wake up and find yourself at the bottom of a river you've swum like a proverbial fish all your life. "If I had been a calmer cadaver, the events leading up to my death might not have been as murky," Murmur Lee Harp tells us early on.

In this intriguing novel by the author of Before Women Had Wings, we learn about Murmur's past and present state of being. "My life was like most people's: a series of challenges made bearable by the sanctified gifts of friends and strangers," she tells us.

Her friends, devastated at the unexpected news, include Edith, a transgender former marine; Lucinda, a chain-smoking artist and yoga instructor; Zachary, a widowed physician who desperately loved Murmur Lee; and Charlee, who fled to Boston to become "Yankeefied" yet depended on best friend Murmur Lee to keep her rooted to the South.

Her grieving friends tell from their own perspectives about encounters with the woman they loved. As they remember, they search for meaning behind her life and death.

Florida author Connie May Fowler gives us a powerful book full of mysticism and wisdom about life, the life ever after, and the wonder of it all. -NANCY DORMAN-HICKSON

© 2005 Southern Progress Corporation Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.