A Map of the World , Jane Hamilton (Doubleday, 1994). ****

For those of you who enjoyed Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres (reviewed elsewhere), this novel is about a young couple with children trying to make a new life as 'outsiders' on a small midwestern dairy farm and then suddenly have to cope with a tragedy that eventually changes all their lives. The setting is rendered marvelously, and you'll find yourself caring deeply for these people.