Best-selling novelist Ann Patchett's second, "strikingly original"*noveltells the moving story of John Nickel, an ex-jazz musician who wanted nothing more than to be a good father. When his lover takes away his son,he's left only withhis Beale Street,Memphis bar.He hiresa young waitress named Fay Taft who brings with hera desperate, dangerousbrother, Carl, and the possibility ofnew intimacy.Nickel finds himself consumed with Fay and Carl's dead fatherTaftobssessing over and reconstructing the life of a man he never met. A stunning artistic achievement, Taft confirms Ann Pathcett's standing as one of the most gifted writers of her generationand reminds us of our deepest instincts to protect the people we love. *Kirkus Reviews