This novel has a community full of wonderful, memorable personalities that all come together in fictional Greenstone, Minnesota, near Duluth. Virgil Wander is the title character, who in the opening pages, plummets into Lake Superior in his car. The ensuing story is about his recovery from this accident, emotionally and physically, interacting with the residents and day to day small town life. Enger does a wonderful job of making everyone seem real and genuine. I found myself thinking about them and all the various subplots while going about my daily business and missed them them after finishing the book. The reader will wish they could actually visit Greenstone and the beautiful scenery in person. I have visited this area in the past and he really nails it. This is not a page turning, suspensful read, but you will want to keep reading just to spend time with all these folks.