About the Author

Ann Patchett is originally from Los Angeles and is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College. She is the author of two earlier novels, The Patron Saint of Liars and Taft. She lives in Nashville and is the Tennessee Williams Fellow in Creative Writing at the University of the South

Reviews

‘Original, sparkling, funny and sad – a book you read in one gulp and want to revisit immediately’ Penelope Lively, Daily Telegraph ‘A delicate exploration of impossible love and new-found friendship’ Guardian ‘The kindliness of The Magician's Assistant is beguiling, and Patchett is an adroit, graceful writer’ Suzanne Berne, New York Times Book Review

For two decades, Sabine has loved the magician Parsifal and served as his assistant. Theirs is an unorthodox relationship, however, for Parsifal loves men. When Parsifal's lover dies of AIDS, he marries Sabine so that she will be his widow. When Parsifal dies, Sabine receives some surprising news about his will. Believing her husband to have no living relatives, she is shocked to learn of a trust fund established for a mother and two sisters in Nebraska. When his family contacts her, she introduces them to the Los Angeles Parsifal. She then visits them in Nebraska to discover the truth about the man she loved and thought she knew, gaining insight into herself as well. Well written and full of interesting twists, this is recommended for larger collections.‘Kimberly G. Allen, networkMCI Lib., Washington, D.C.

'Original, sparkling, funny and sad - a book you read in one gulp and want to revisit immediately' Penelope Lively, Daily Telegraph

'A delicate exploration of impossible love and new-found friendship' Guardian

'The kindliness of The Magician's Assistant is beguiling, and Patchett is an adroit, graceful writer' Suzanne Berne, New York Times Book Review