ROLL THE SUN ACROSS THE SKY

Probst’s novel charts the complicated life of a woman across the decades.

Arden Rice and fellow schoolteacher Robert travel through Europe to Istanbul by train in 1977. Arden is 24 years old and thinks her “own story is the only one that matters.” (It’s a mantra that continues throughout her life.) Budget-obsessed Robert bores her; she takes on other lovers abroad and upon her return to New York. When she discovers she’s pregnant and that Robert is the father, she convinces Jonah, her current squeeze, that he is the responsible party, and they marry. But when money gets tight (she discovers that Jonah stashes unpaid bills under their bed), an angry Arden upends the marriage and breaks her husband’s heart by telling him he’s not the biological father of their daughter Leigh. Husband number two is older and wealthy—that marriage is also short-lived due to the damage Arden inflicts. Her third husband, however, is a keeper, and for over 20 years and he and Arden live in “a ridiculously oversized apartment on Riverside Drive.” The morning of her 60th birthday, Arden assumes she will be feted by her husband, daughter, and 10-year-old grandchild. Arden feels she survived six decades through a combination of luck, agility, and bullishness— “keeping her eyes straight ahead, ignoring the debris.” But her good fortune runs out that day, leaving her with much soul-searching to do. If the devil is in the details, Probst is diabolically good: As a teacher in the 1970s, Arden hands out “freshly-mimeographed copies of the syllabus,” and as a young mom, she has “a cassette player on the counter made of child-friendly red and yellow plastic.” Characters are richly drawn, exotic locations are artfully described, and the language is fresh and sometimes poetic. The narrative may have worked better had it followed a more linear path, but the story still offers much to chew over, including explorations of the role of motherhood, the need for forgiveness, and the power of memory.

Thought-provoking, textured, and touching.