a cast on his ankle and is released with crutches. Kenya’s mother is in intensive care, scheduled for surgery the next morning. Exhausted, the Doyles take Kenya home with them. However, another surprise is waiting for the Doyles at home. The boys’ older brother, Sullivan, who has been out of touch with the family for some two years, has come home unexpectedly.

Sullivan was a protective, older brother for Tip and Teddy when they were young children, but he became antagonistic toward his father after his mother died of cancer. He has been estranged from the family since causing a scandal some years ago. Most recently he had been living in Africa, delivering HIV medication to hospitals but making money on the side by selling some of it on the black market. When his illegal activity appeared to be on the verge of being discovered, he made a quick exit back to Boston. He arrives just in time to participate in the unfolding events.

When Sullivan is introduced to Kenya, he sees a clear resemblance to Tip and Teddy in her appearance. He is willing to accept the story of Kenya and her mother as genuine. While the others in the Doyle family go to sleep, Sullivan is restless with jet lag and decides to go to the hospital to see the black woman for himself. Tennessee is awaiting surgery, only half-conscious as a result of the pain medications, so Sullivan sits by her bedside. Gradually he is drawn to tell her a traumatic incident from his life. He tells Tennessee about the death of his girlfriend in college for which he had been responsible but had never before admitted to anyone. The scene is like a deathbed confession, but with the roles reversed. He finds great relief in finally being able to admit his guilt: “She had taken his burden for a moment, lifted the thing he had carried with him for so long he hadn’t even understood that he was still holding it.” Readers may find it difficult to accept the almost instantaneous bond of intimacy that develops between Sullivan and Tennessee. Nevertheless, the emotional confession is described by Patchett with compassion and great tenderness.

In the morning, Kenya wants to be taken to the hospital right away, but her mother is in surgery. It is an awkward time for the Doyles as they figure out what to do about Kenya. No one had any idea that Tip and Teddy had a sister or even if that story is to be believed. When Kenya mentions that she loves to go running, Tip volunteers to take her to the Harvard field house for some exercise after making a brief stop at the museum. Kenya is a precocious, delightful child who is fascinated by the thousands of jars filled with fish. As Tip gives her a tour of the collection, he is gratified to hear her express a genuine interest in his work, something that he never got from his brother or father. Later at the field house, Kenya runs with such speed and grace that she soon has an admiring audience of college students. Kenya is overjoyed to have an older brother who can give her entrance to a world where she could never have gone on her own. Tip and Kenya have bonded together in a special way.

After surgery, Tennessee is brought back to her hospital room under heavy sedation. She has a surrealistic vision of being visited there by her closest friend, a young woman who had died some years ago. The friend’s name was Tennessee Alice Moser, and she had a baby daughter named Kenya. In grief after her friend’s funeral, she decided to keep Kenya as her own child. To avoid the costly adoption process, she took her friend’s name and moved to a different neighborhood in Boston. She took a different job using her new name and struggled to make ends meet as a single mother. She showered her love on Kenya, knowing that her own sons, Tip and Teddy, had a good home in which she had no role. She had told Kenya about giving up her sons for adoption and let her assume that they were her brothers. Tennessee dies at the hospital soon after surgery, without ever revealing to Kenya the story of her birth mother.

The final chapter of the novel is a celebration several years later. The Doyle family, now including Kenya, are all attending the graduation ceremony of Tip from medical school. Tip’s classmates are talking about where they plan to go for an internship, but Tip has other plans. He has decided that his career will be in the scientific study of fish, no matter what expectations his father or other people may have for him. His medical training in physiology will help him in his chosen field. Kenya has been fully accepted into the Doyle family since the death of her mother. Her life has been transformed as she has moved from an environment of near poverty into the upper class. She is attending a private, Catholic high school, making a name for herself as an outstanding runner. She imagines that her mother somehow arranged for the car accident that enabled her to gain three brothers and a father.

Each character in Patchett’s novel is portrayed as a unique, memorable personality. The father is a loving but controlling parent to his adopted sons, as shown by some tender incidents from their childhood. Tennessee’s harsh life as a single parent is described sympathetically: working late hours for low pay, living in a low-cost housing development, watching out for the safety of her adopted daughter. Kenya is an obedient, loving, appreciative adolescent. Father Sullivan had been full of energy and confidence as a young priest, but his deteriorating health leads him to deeper questions about the effectiveness of prayer and the meaning of eternal life. Sullivan Doyle is the “black sheep” of the Doyle family, reinstated by the compassion he receives from the mother of his adopted brothers. Significant childhood experiences show how Teddy’s close relationship with Uncle Sullivan and Tip’s longtime fascination with fishes got started. Patchett skillfully uses conversations and events to round out the portraits of the people who make up this extended family.

Some of the coincidences in Run seem rather contrived. For example, just by chance Tennessee had been an employee at Father Sullivan’s nursing home, so the characters already had a connection before the accident. Also, it seems far-fetched that Tennessee could so often observe Tip and Teddy from nearby without herself being noticed. Nevertheless, in this era of many dysfunctional families, it is refreshing to read a positive story of the bonding that can grow among family members, whether they are related by adoption or by birth.