Edna Sloane wrote a book which quickly became a classic after it was published some thirty years ago. When she was supposed to be meeting her agent to discuss her next novel, she never made it to her appointment, seemingly disappearing from the scene. Now, thirty years later, Seth, a few years out of college, is yearning to write something significant himself, but feels stuck in his mediocre job with a digital publication. His editor wants to do a series on great women writers of the 1980s, and suggests Seth look for Edna Sloane. Seth knows and loves her book and fixates on trying to find out what happened to her, contacting every group of writers he can think of, including those in chat rooms, hoping to get a lead on Enda's whereabouts. This story is told mostly via the emails and posts he sends, and later, through the letters he sends and receives.
Seth has two goals: to find Edna and see if she is willing to be interviewed for their publication's feature story, hoping that such an interview would help his career which is floundering, and he also wants to see if Edna would be able to share with him writing strategies: how to create works which have meaning and will endure, and other concerns of the writer.
The letters which make up the story tell us much about the people, particularly Seth and Edna. We learn a lot about Edna's background, too: Her father came of age at Auschwitz, losing his entire family during the Holocaust. Her father's horrible experiences affected not just his own life, but they also had a significant, although indirect, effect on Edna's life as well. We also learn of Edna's life in college and as an adult. I found a lot of philosophical meat in this novel. While there is not a lot of action, the unfolding of Edna's story is fascinating to me.
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