When her magnetic and free-spirited mother Babe dies, Didion is summoned to her late mom's home, forced to spend the weekend with her sister and two friends from childhood, all of whom she has avoided seeing for years. Babe has left the island home to the four "kids" to do with as they wish — the only stipulation is that they must spend the weekend in the house together, with no phones or internet access. The four grudgingly agree, thinking that it's only 48 hours, but something happens when the clock ticks past midnight, and they're stuck reliving the same day over and over and over and over... None of the outside world is aware of it, but the four of them are determined to figure out how to break out of their time loop, even if it means they have to learn some lessons along the way.
This is the second book of Harbison's that I've read, and the second one with a plot device lifted straight from Hollywood — the first was a Sliding Doors "what if" plot, and this one was Groundhog Day (if you didn't read the first paragraph and missed all of the blinking neon arrows that pointed to it). The devices work, but it doesn't show a lot of creativity. Yes, the characters in this book grew and learned, but I didn't particularly like the way it happened. Not a horrible book, but not my favorite by a long shot.
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