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Yes, this could be a problem, having a “contracta” who’s only aged a year for each decade you have, and Skip well knows it. Though most of the story is in third person, there are first-person reflections from Skip interspersed among the chapters; some of them marvel at the way his young bride still loves and accepts him — and the strangenesses of the situations that a formerly dead mother-in-law can cause. When pirates take their cruise ship during their oddly touching re-honeymoon, Skip, a thoroughly good man who doesn’t believe he is, has both of their lives to consider. It does get complicated.
Wolfe always has been good at building characters, and this batch is an elevated example of his skill. Yes, the novel happens in an unevenly nasty world, but the people in it are much better than their surroundings.
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