New Jerusalem News: A Novel (The Dominick Chronicles)

The summer season on Cape Cod is over—now it’s time for the real fun to begin.

Dominick is always just passing through. He is a professional house guest who follows the sun and the leisure class from resort to resort. But this winter he lingers on a quaint New England island and in spite of his best intentions becomes involved in the travails of his eccentric geriatric hosts. An environmental protest against a proposed liquid natural gas terminal turns ugly, and by accident and happenstance Dominick becomes a mistaken suspect in terrorist bombings.

But New Jerusalem News is really about its characters—the plot is just to keep them busy as we get to know them. None of them are young—white-bearded men and blue-coiffed women busy with aging, dementia, and ungrateful children. But Dominick strives to float above it all in a life of itinerant escape. A New England comedy of sorts, on another level New Jerusalem News is an extended meditation on history, identity, and what it means to drift.