Dubus is a master of getting you emotionally involved. You get inside the characters' heads and understand perfectly what and why they do what they do. You root for them all. You want them all to have happy endings, especially April and Franny.
The story begins with April's usual babysitter for Franny, canceling out. April is a stripper. She has to bring Franny to work with her. Franny is only three, so she thinks her mom is just a dancer.
The babysitter is Jean and she loves Franny so much, she wants her for her own.
Then there's AJ who has a restraining order on him, for hitting his wife. He has anger management problems. When he sees Franny wonder out of the strip club, he is reminded of his little son and decides to help her. He takes her to look for help but everywhere he thinks of, would accuse him of kidnapping. He's not thinking straight; he's drunk.
The last story is about Bassam. He is one of the terrorist who crashes into the twin towers. He goes to April's club as a last fling before he kills himself in the attack. He lusts after April and as the reader, you fear he is going to do something bad. Only, it turns out not to be anything against April and Franny.
I've tried skimming the stories to get back to the character I was interested in, but there's always something missing. The best way to read The Garden of the Last Days is the set your mind to follow the paralegal stories as they are written. Have patience; you will be rewarded.
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