Robin Essen has sometimes appeared unreasonable. She’s very harsh with her daughter, isn’t she? Is Ryan’s drinking that big a deal?

Set in 1986, this book relates the last days of Robin’s stepfather. She and Tom were still young and beautiful, the degradation and decay of the mainline story inconceivable. We see that the role she plays for her husband in 2018 is one she’s played before, and that her response to drinking is one she comes by honestly. This is probably my favorite Upstate story so far, if that sweetens the pot.