Trust Lydia Millet never to take the easy way out, or precisely follow expectations or conventions. Her previous novel, MERMAIDS IN PARADISE, started out as a satirical farce but turned into something quite surprisingly different. Her new effort, SWEET LAMB OF HEAVEN, does something similar. On the surface of things, it is a novel of psychological suspense, an exploration of what happens to a woman when she is controlled and tormented by an emotionally abusive spouse. But that really barely touches on what the book actually is about.

When we first meet Anna, she is on the run with her six-year-old daughter, Lena. After some wandering, the two of them have found themselves at a run-down motel in Maine, where Anna, a former academic, is homeschooling her daughter. Anna is not really sure what drew her to this place; all she knows is that she feels safe here, and her daughter is thriving amid a small but affectionate community of strangers who have become friends. Lena enjoys being the resident expert brought in to give all the newcomers tours of the property. She loves her mom but also thrives on discovering the stories of strangers.

"The suspenseful situation will draw many readers in, to be sure. But what will stay with them are the provocative, alternately troubling and hopeful ideas that undergird Anna’s story."

Anna has fled Alaska, unable to continue tolerating her husband Ned’s serial adultery and emotional detachment from their daughter. But Ned, who previously had seemed indifferent to their departure, has decided to run for the state legislature as a conservative Christian candidate. In order to succeed, he needs his wife and daughter by his side --- at least long enough to pose for some well-selected photo ops.

Anna’s account of Ned’s increasingly menacing behaviors is interspersed with her memories of Lena’s infancy --- a time when Anna became overwhelmed by a voice in her head, a voice that was seemingly omniscient, able to quote whole lines of poetry she had never read, speaking languages she had never known. As Anna becomes increasingly involved with the other residents at the motel, she begins to wonder if there is a connection between that unsettled time in her life and where she finds herself now.

Parts of SWEET LAMB OF HEAVEN read just like a conventional novel of suspense, especially as the stakes between Ned and Anna begin to rise drastically. But that’s only the beginning of the story, as Anna’s narration and her encounters with others lead into considerations of shared sentience, human exceptionalism, the origins and limitations of language, and the very nature of the divine. The suspenseful situation will draw many readers in, to be sure. But what will stay with them are the provocative, alternately troubling and hopeful ideas that undergird Anna’s story.