The Dogs of Babel Hardcover - 2003

From the publisher

When his wife dies in a fall from a tree in their backyard, linguist Paul Iverson is wild with despair. In the days that follow, Paul becomes certain that Lexy's death was no accident. Strange clues have been left behind: unique, personal messages that only she could have left and that he is determined to decipher. So beigns Paul's fantastic and even perilous search for the truth, as he abandons his everyday life to embark on a series of experiments designed to teach his dog Lorelei to communicate. Is this the project of a madman? Or does Lorelei really have something to tell him about the last afternoon of a woman he only thought he knew? At the same time, Paul obsessively recalls the early days of his love for Lexy and the ups and downs of life with the brilliant, sometimes unsettling woman who became his wife. THE DOGS OF BABEL is a surprising and thoroughly winning novel about grief, love, secrets, and the unconditional devotion of the truest hearts of all--including those who have no words with which to express it.
- Parkhurst expertly blends lyrical prose, a heart-rending story, and elements of the fantastic in ways that recall writers as diverse as Alice Hoffman, Paul Auster, and Alice Sebold.