The Fourth HandA Novel

While reporting from India, a New York television journalist has his left hand eaten by a lion; millions of TV viewers witness the accident. In Boston, a renowned hand surgeon awaits the opportunity to perform the nation's first hand transplant; meanwhile, in the distracting aftermath of an acrimonious divorce, the surgeon is seduced by his housekeeper. A married woman in Wisconsin wants to give the reporter her husband's left hand – after her husband dies. But the husband is alive, relatively young, and healthy. This novel is characteristic of Irving's seamless storytelling and further explores some of the author's recurring themes – loss, grief, and love as redemption. But this novel also offers a penetrating look at the power of second chances and the will to change.