In the late 1970s, crossword puzzle maker Pippa Allsbrook hosted the first meeting of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, an organization that, over the course of the next 40+ years, would become a safe haven and almost a commune for puzzlemakers of all sorts. Jigsaw artists, hedge-maze creators, riddle writers, math puzzle makers, trivia book authors and pub quiz emcees, even guys who make those ingenious wooden puzzle boxes. All were welcomed in the Fellowship. Even Clayton Stumper, a baby who was left in a hatbox on the front step of the Fellowship's communal home in 1991 and raised by the older residents. However, when Pippa dies, she leaves 25-year-old Clayton a series of puzzles that will help him discover who he really is.
Told in alternating chapters between Clayton's current quest for the truth and the early days of the Fellowship (and sprinkled with the puzzles Pippa leaves behind), this book is a love letter to family of all sorts, to puzzles, and to self-discovery. It was a lovely read, and I highly recommend it.
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