Can a person save another?  Does sacrifice have limits?  Truth and Beauty, Ann Patchettâs fifth book, allows such questions to sit just below the surface.

The book recounts the authorâs friendship with Lucy Grealy, the author of Autobiography of a Face.  Early in Truth & Beauty, we learn Lucy had cancer as a child.  As a result, part of her jaw was removed.  This loss colors Lucyâs life.  In turn, it affects the womenâs friendship and leads to its seemingly inevitable conclusion.

Patchettâs writing is visceral.  The honesty of her writing and her descriptive style allow the reader to experience the charactersâ lives.  The honesty in their relationship engenders compassion.  In chapter sixteen, Ann is in the hospital with Lucy after a surgery:

"You're such a good friend," she [Lucy] said dreamily. ·

"You're a good friend to me, too."

"Oh no I'm not.  Not like you.· But at least I can make you feel
          like a saint.  That's what youâve always wanted."

           I stopped and looked at her, ·"That's a terrible thing to say."

           Lucy shrugged barely, · "That's true."

The author refuses to portray herself or Lucy in a way that would make them palatable thus strengthening the impact of the final question:  How does Ann live with her mistake?

Note: Both writers were members of the Iowa Writerâs Workshop. MCPL owns both titles mentioned in the review.