In A Handbook to Luck, Cristina Garcia has given us a skillful treatment of universal themes and multilayered, compelling characters. In different parts of the world, revolution creates upheavals in the lives of characters who are set in unforeseen circumstances. They try to function within the arbitrary and unpredictable reality of their lives as they deal with political brutality, institutionalized violence, immigration, alienation and conflicting family loyalties. Survival depends on regeneration and reinvention. But to what degree are they masters of their destinies and to what degree does their survival depend on pure chance?

"A Handbook To Luck," by Christina Garcia, is a lovely novel about the bittersweet roles that luck, coincidence, happenstance, and choice play in our lives.

It's a very short novel that feels more like three intertwining novellas. The stories unfold chronologically as we follow three separate protagonists--Enrique Florit, the mathematically gifted Cuban-American son of a flamboyant professional magician; Marta Claros, a child of abject poverty from the slums of San Salvador; and Leila Rezvani, a wealthy and privileged daughter of an Iranian surgeon and his vain Russian wife. We watch their lives in brief snapshots from 1968 through 1987. We learn about the sorrows, joys, difficult decisions, and everyday pleasures that mark their existence as each struggles to build a decent and happy life. The character's lives cross paths in unexpected ways. Luck comes in many guises. Sometimes the characters recognize their good fortune and seize the moment, but at other times they are totally unaware of these golden opportunities and let them slip away. This is a book about choices, about the paths taken and not taken in our lives.

The author, Christina Garcia, is a 48-year-old Cuban-American who studied political science and international relations at Barnard and Johns Hopkins before starting work as a journalist for "Time" magazine. Eventually, she turned her attention to writing poetry and novels. This work is her fifth novel. According to a newspaper interview about the book (Charleston, "Sunday Gazette," July 22, 2007), the author recently took up painting and is making an artist studio for herself in her Napa Valley, California, home. I wasn't the least bit surprised when I read this. Garcia's prose is filled with subtle lyrical nuance and vivid imagery-exactly what I'd expect from a writer who is also a poet and a painter. For me, reading her prose was what I enjoyed most about this short, wise, and emotionally layered work.

This novel takes a large philosophical view on life, and it will probably cause readers to reminisce about their own lives and missed opportunities. The book gets only a three-and-a-half star rating from me (rounded up to 4-stars, here) primarily because I felt a bit let down by the end--I wanted more from the plot and the character's lives. But, the book is a beautiful, well-written story, and I recommend it. Don't hesitate to read it if you want a short, contemplative book that is as easy and quick to read, as it is beautiful and meaningful.