Nathaniel and his older sister Rachel are teenagers in the aftermath of WWII. Their father is absent. Suddenly, their mother informs them that she needs to leave to join their father and cannot take them with her. Instead she asks a gentleman Nathaniel and Rachel will come to nickname the Moth to live in their home and look after them during her absence. Written from Nathaniel’s perspective, this novel examines the happenings that occur and the characters who cross their lives while she is away. In addition to the Moth, there is the Darter who recruits Nathaniel and Rachel to assist him with his mission of acquiring and transporting greyhounds to various locations for racing, Olive Laurence, the Darter’s girlfriend for a time, who studies civilization, and “Agnes”, whom Nathaniel falls in love with.

What amazed me about this book was the utter lack of honesty between any of the characters. Nathaniel doesn’t learn until much later in life why his mother went away, why father is is perennially absent, or who the Moth is. In turn, he fails to tell Agnes who his parents are and how he feels about her. Most distressing is the divide that occurs between Nathaniel and Rachel who eventually fall out of touch with each other. An interesting read at times, but also vague in general.