At the outset of this moving, luminous novel, Malcolm Vaughn, a successful architect in suburban Boston, is shot and killed in a random act of violence, an act witnessed by his wife Sarah and young son Harry. Sarah's grief in the prolonged aftermath of this horrid act is total and totally devastating. She is unsure of how to return to work, how to talk to policemen and teachers, how to live in a world that does not include her husband. Her grief is the primary dramatic action of this book; the reader learns human and emotional truths from the example of her catharsis. Harry, her bright, artistic eight-year-old son, is by contrast more grounded and functional in his sadness, although Sarah begins to wonder (as does the reader) if and when the boy might lose his grasp. And then there is Deckard-the best friend Malcolm left behind, a Vietnam vet, and a comforting presence to not only Sarah and Harry but several other characters. The reader is also comforted by Deck, who is friendly, generous, and rich in the wisdom of experience. But when Deck finds himself wrestling with both the strengths and shortcomings of his own memories, grief turns to panic as the narrative races to an engrossing resolution. Singing Boy is a vivid, perceptive, character-driven family tragedy, a story about the depths of sorrow, the mysteries of fate, and the personal as well as communal paths people must travel as they face these depths and mysteries.