The four main characters in Pickle’s Progress seem more alive than most of the people we know in real life. -Richard Russo

Marcia Butler’s debut novel, Pickle’s Progress, is a fierce, mordant New York story about the twisted path to love.

Over the course of five weeks, identical twin brothers, one wife, a dog, and a bereaved young woman collide with each other to comical and sometimes horrifying effect. Everything is questioned and tested as they jockey for position and try to maintain the status quo. Love is the poison, the antidote, the devil and, ultimately, the hero.

Pickle’s Progress is a Weird - But Secretly Sweet - Journey. -npr