Switch (edition 1998)

Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0934971609, Paperback)

Carol Guess's lyrical and accomplished second novel, set in small-town Indiana, is poised on the tension between the surface cheeriness of the waitresses at the M&H Diner and their dark inner lives. Caddie and her friends each have a secret and, through years of hiding and watchfulness, they have developed a wary alertness to what other people are withholding. Since her lover Jo skipped town, no one escapes Caddie's attention or the brief focus of her shifting desire. She learns that shallow, selfish Gwen, the new girl at the diner, has a surprisingly rich singing voice, "as if all the things she knew she kept hidden in her throat," and that Selena, her long-time ally, cares little for people, but will kiss a $50 bill when she thinks no one is looking. Suffering makes Caddie compassionate, as well as needy, and she unhesitatingly adopts the small orange cat that shows up on her doorstep one rainy night. Here at last is something to love, someone to listen to her dangerous confidences. But why does the cat remind her of her lost lover? And where does the cat disappear to when the lover finally returns? Switch is a complex, haunting novel with mystical overtones and a mastery of narrative voice. --Regina Marler