Ira runs a small family business in Baltimore while Maggie works as a geriatric nurse. The novel appears to have been set in the late 1970s or early 1980s. As the story begins, Ira is reflecting on the amount of waste in the world, including his own life.
On this Saturday they are preparing to go to a funeral, and Maggie is picking up their car from the mechanic's shop. As she drives home, she listens to a call-in radio program and is convinced that the woman announcing her impending marriage is her former daughter-in-law, Fiona. She collects Ira and they set out for the funeral in rural Pennsylvania. The novel then moves on to explore the intricacies.....
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