Strong protagonists and vivid descriptions anchor Fardon’s debut novel about second chances, community, and love.

Oliver Bartholomew, a retired lawyer, has tried to build a meaningful life by watching out for his D.C. neighborhood, Adams Morgan. He’s a member of the “Junger Squad,” a small group of men who do good in the community, as inspired by the Sebastian Junger quote “Only children owe nothing.” Nevertheless, Oliver’s world is rupturing—first when his beloved dog needs to be euthanized and then when his college sweetheart Rose Dellaplane calls after decades of silence. Oliver and Rose reunite, causing both to question their past and ponder what truly makes a meaningful life. Meanwhile, a local pizza restaurant has been bought out by a corporation whose sole interest is maximizing profit for its investors. As the exterior plot builds toward a climax around the restaurant, the interior pain of the past resurfaces for Oliver and Rose. Both carry secrets and guilt for failures on drastically different scales. Oliver tells Rose, “Whatever you’ve done, no matter how terrible, there’s only one question you ever need to answer: What do I do next? The important choices are the ones we have yet to make.” Each must finally acknowledge the past to truly build a healthy future. While the most basic summary of this plot sounds trite—college sweethearts reunite to save a local business—the execution is powerful, thoughtful, and tender. The language soars lyrically without sounding pretentious: “He felt the rise and fall of Frannie’s breath as he stared up into the black, listening to the late-night sounds of his own neighborhood, and those of the throbbing city beyond.” The philosophical, almost elegiac, tone echoes Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day (1989). Well-crafted vignettes of supporting characters also elevate the story.

An impressive literary novel filled with both searing regret and stirring hope.