The Lay of the Land

The Lay of the Land is a 2006 novel by American author Richard Ford. The novel is the third in a trilogy, which began with The Sportswriter and was followed several years later by Independence Day . Each of these novels follows a portion of the life of Frank Bascombe, a real estate agent moving through early middle age towards his later years. The Lay of the Land was nominated for a 2006 National Book Critics Circle Award. The Lay of the Land takes place in the fall of 2000, and Ford's character Frank Bascome is preparing for Thanksgiving at his home in Sea Clift, New Jersey. His son Paul,... who is now a greeting card designer in Kansas City, Paul's girlfriend, who has only one hand, and Frank's daughter, Clarissa, who is an on-and-off lesbian, are all expected to attend. Frank has ordered a ready-made organic meal to be delivered on the holiday. Frank's second wife, Sally, has reunited with her formerly AWOL and presumed-dead husband Wally, and they now live in the British Isles. Frank is in the last throes of a fight against prostate cancer, and Frank's first wife, Ann, has moved back to Haddam, New Jersey, after the death of her second husband.
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