The clock on the dashboard was an hour behind. They had never fixed it for daylight savings. Loo reached forward and pushed the buttons and spun the dial, moving the numbers out of the past and into the present. In that moment, it seemed like the most important thing she'd ever done.
Hannah Tinti, The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley
Loo Hawley is the daughter of a badly scarred man with a mysterious past. She doesn't remember her mother, who drowned also mysteriously. Samuel Hawley has lived a violent criminal life that involved much bloodshed, most of it his own. He has been shot repeatedly, and Tinti tells a series of terrific stories about how he got each of his wounds. Along the way he met Lily. They got married and had a daughter, Louise, whom they called Loo.
Now in middle age, Samuel tries hard to be an honest citizen and a good father, but his past threatens to catch up with him. Meanwhile Loo snoops, studies and explores while attempting to discover and, at the same time, erase her father's past.
Tinti keeps her story moving, supplying rich characters and memorable episodes. There is much to admire here.
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