Magician's Assistant (Patchett)

The Magician's Assistant
Ann Patchett, 1997
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
368 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780156006217

Summary
When Parsifal, a handsome and charming magician, dies suddenly, his widow Sabine—who was also his faithful assistant for twenty years—learns that the family he claimed to have lost in a tragic accident is very much alive and well. Sabine is left to unravel his secrets, and the adventure she embarks upon, from sunny Los Angeles to the bitter windswept plains of Nebraska, will work its own magic on her. Sabine's extraordinary tale captures the hearts of its readers just as Sabine is captured by her quest. (From the publisher.)