moving and darkly witty'. Zoe Strachan. When Rachel Roanoke sees Hal Fremont across a diner counter, she claims him as her own. Their first date takes place in the registry office, and they set out for the small, suspicious town Hal calls home. There, in the crumbling hallway of their mock-antebellum house, Rachel and Hal consummate their marriage and start to build their rambunctious brood. Against their parents' ill-starred fairy tale romance, the Fremont children fight for their territory within the shifting, bitter bonds of family. In this tale of prejudice, identity and desire, Fremont becomes a map of survival.