The Problem With Murmur Lee - Tapa dura

At thirty-two, Oster Harp is a wealthy man, a captain of industry who has settled on an unnamed island with his young pregnant wife and an entourage of servants to tend his property and ensure that nothing disturbs his peace and quiet. Pacing the beach on the morning his wife gives birth, he catches sight of a rainbow and, struck by the magic of the moment, names both the island and his newborn daughter for the Greek goddess of the rainbow. But Iris is also the goddess who receives the souls of dying women, and in choosing the name, Oster unwittingly leaves a legacy that haunts the island and the Harp family for generations to come.

Murmur Lee, Oster’s great-great-granddaughter, has spent her entire life on Iris Haven. She has married and divorced, raised two daughters, and seems totally content with her surroundings and with the latest beau in her long series of conquests. When, just shy of her fortieth birthday, Murmur drowns in the Iris Haven River, her eclectic circle of friends is profoundly shaken by the mysteries surrounding her death. After years of self-exile in the North, Charlie Mudd, Murmur’s best friend, returns to find out what really happened on that fateful night and is forced to confront the ghosts of her own past. Edith Piaf, a former marine whose sex-change at the age of sixty-two Murmur supported with an unquestioning generosity of spirit, vows to defend Murmur’s reputation against the snide rumors arising in town. And Murmur's egotistic lover, William, finds himself unable to let go of the woman who enchanted and intrigued him.

With poignancy and humor, and a loving respect for her characters, Fowler weaves the voices of Murmur and her friends into a compelling narrative. Part family saga, part murder mystery, THE PROBLEM WITH MURMUR LEE is Fowler’s most rewarding and engrossing work to date.