In Garvin's affecting debut novel (after the memoir How to Be a Sister), three misfits come together to save the local bee population of Hood River, Ore. One night, Alice Holtzman, a hobbyist beekeeper, widower, and introvert who is beset with panic attacks and "held together by cookies, solitary driving, and the sheer determination not to go crazy in public," nearly runs over teenager Jake Stevenson in his wheelchair. They get to talking about her bees, and Alice surprises herself by offering the depressed Jake a place to stay so he can escape his abusive father. Jake is soon followed by Harry Stokes, whom Alice hires for some carpentry work and offers a free room in her bunkhouse. After Alice is slighted for an overdue promotion, she quits her job and the three turn their attention to stopping the pesticide conglomerate SupraGro, known for decimating bee populations in other states. After a slow start, the SupraGro plot gives some structure to the novel but also weighs it down by distracting from the heart of the story: the three characters and their personal growth. The bees are an obvious metaphor ("single-minded creatures that each worked tirelessly for the whole"), but it works, and Garvin gets the local color right, such as Harry's kiteboarding on the Columbia. While predictable, the story is genuinely touching. (Apr.)

It would not take a trained therapist (although she has one) to determine that Alice Holtzman is desperately seeking a new community. At 44, she has already lost both parents and her husband in fairly close succession, and now even her long-standing job at the county planning department is in jeopardy. So Alice seeks solace in the bees she is raising, finding permanence in their supremely structured lives that eludes her own. She'd like to expand her nascent honey business, but she'll need help. Enter Jake and Harry, two physically and emotionally damaged young men who are seeking the very same sense of belonging and stability. Jake was left paraplegic during his senior year of high school after a girl-impressing stunt went horribly wrong, while newly homeless Harry is trying to atone for the misguided, friend-impressing caper that put him jail. There are quirks to be worked out as these three fragile beings find common ground caring for Alice's bees and each other, but their journey is rich with possibility. Both buoyant and bittersweet, Garvin's impressive first novel, a luscious paean to the bonds of friendship and limitations of family, is the kind of comforting yet thought-provoking tale that will appeal to fans of Anne Tyler and Sue Miller.