Dear Great Book Guru,  I am decluttering my house in anticipation of the annual Village-wide Garage Sale here in Sea Cliff on Saturday, June 2.  I’ll be dropping my used books off at the Main Library after May 21 but I would love to have something to read now- perhaps a short novel on a current topic…

Avid Declutterer                   

Dear Avid Declutter, Congratulations on your determination and I do have a good book for you: THE PARKING LOT ATTENDANT by Nafkote Tamirat.  This debut novel opens in a utopian community where our unnamed narrator is living with her father. Neither father nor daughter is welcome and quickly the story line switches back to Boston where they had been living until forced to flee under mysterious circumstances.  The narrator had immigrated to Boston as a fifteen year old. To her father’s dismay, she is drawn to the charismatic Ayale, a parking lot attendant who is the unofficial king of Boston’s close knit Ethiopian community.  Soon it becomes evident that Ayale is a sinister force but this makes him all the more attractive to the young girl.  By the time she realizes the full extent of his plans, she has become totally complicit. This is a coming of age novel, a look into the loneliness of the immigrant, a study of fatherhood, and ultimately a darkly compelling mystery…..highly recommended!