主人公のジャックが母親アリスに連れられて　二人を捨てた父親を探すために　ヨーロッパを点々とする事から始まる小説です。

冬のデンマーク　オランダ　スエーデンと転々としていく先々で刺青屋をしながら

アリスはジャックを育てて行くますが　父親は見つからずカナダに帰り二人の生活を開始します。

学校で演劇を学んだジャックは俳優となり　有名になります。そこで父親のうわさを聞き・・・

妻が夫を　子供が母親を　男が女を　息子が父親を探し続ける話です。

われわれは誰を捜し求め　そして見つかった後はどうするのか？

個人的には最後５章で少し話がまとまらずに終わったのが残念

I am an avid John Irving fan but I was kind of disappointed by this latest one. Whenever I pick up a new book by Irving I am always full of anticipation for the quirky unusual plot-lines and his humorous, down to earth story-telling, but it seems like lately he`s started to write less like a novelist and more like a screenwriter, trying his hand at bringing out the next Hollywood blockbuster. And why, oh why did we have to suffer through those long tedious descriptions of organs, and church music in the beginning chapters? It`s obvious that a fair amount of research went into this book, but is it really necessary to burden readers with all that background material???

I wish he would go back to writing novels in the style of "Hotel New Hampshire" and "A Son of the Circus."