TOD WILLIAMS

In this part of the story, sixteen-year-old Eddie O'Hare, an aspiring writer, believes he has landed the perfect summer job when he is hired as the personal assistant to the successful children's book illustrator and author Ted Cole. But the Coles are a family marked by tragedy. Their two teenage sons were killed in a car accident; Marion Cole, the boys' mother, has never recovered from their loss. Ted and Marion have temporarily separated, and their living arrangements, which involve their four-year-old daughter, Ruth, are--especially to Eddie's limited experience--baffling. Ted seems to be having an affair with his model, the acerbic Mrs. Vaughn, and Marion and Eddie increasingly find themselves alone together or alone with Ruth.