The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett, 357 pages

Sabine was the assistant to her magician husband, Parsifal.  He dies and she finds out his family, who she thought was dead, are alive and well in Nebraska.

After Parsifal's mother and one of his sisters visit her in Los Angeles, she travels to Nebraska, in the dead of winter, to find out more about the life Parsifal lived as a boy.

Ann Patchett weaves a wonderful story of loss and love and family and acceptance in this book that also includes a bit of magic.