A Gate At The Stairs by Lorrie Moore

 

Tassie Keltjin is a college freshman.  Like most freshmen, she is finding her way to being an adult and discovering what she wants in life.  She grew up in a small town, her father being a farmer of heritage vegetables that are all the rage in farm to table restaurants.  But Tassie doesn't want to end up in the farm life.

She answers an ad for a job in the college town where she is living.  The couple is a middle-aged couple who are trying to adopt and will need a nanny.  The husband is a lawyer and the wife owns and runs a restaurant.  When they adopt a two year old biracial child, Tassie learns about having someone depend on her.  Emmie is a bright child and a joy to be around.

Tassie also falls in love for the first time.  In one of her classes she sits next to a man who she thinks if Brazilian, Reynaldo.  As they study the Muslim religion in the class, she starts to realize that he is also a Muslim and not from Brazil at all.  It is Tassie's first experience with sex and she is obsessed with Reynaldo, bringing Emmie with her during the day to visit him.

But there are problems brewing.  All of Tassie's worlds blow up almost simultaneously.  There is a family tragedy, issues with her nanny job and a breakup with Reynaldo.  Tassie learns that everything cannot be taken at face value and that it is possible to move on after disappointments.

This book was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for books authored by women.  Moore is known for her short stories but this novel shows that she is also comfortable with the longer format of a novel.  Everyone in the novel has secrets and one of the book's takeaways is that one should not necessarily take everyone met at face value.  It is a coming-of-age story that will leave the reader deeply sympathetic with Tassie and her issues.  This book is recommended for readers of women's fiction.