The Fresco

by Sheri S. Tepper

After picking mushrooms near her New Mexico home, Benita is confronted by two strange-looking aliens. They hand her a cube and $100,000, and ask her to see that the cube gets into the hands of someone in authority. For Benita, an abused wife who has worked at a bookstore for the past 16 years with two kids in college, the job looked frightening and exhilarating at the same time.

Her role did not end, though, with the cube safely in the hands of her congressman in Washington, D. C. Instead, she is called on to be a liaison between the Pistach (the aliens who gave her the cube) and the US government. The Pistach’s mission is to help Earth achieve “neighborliness”, to learn how to live in a way that will not disturb or harm nearby neighbors. And things start to get better. But the Pistach are not the only aliens on Earth…

Tepper’s style remains top notch. However, this novel does give Tepper a platform to express her feelings about the current state of our world — disappointment/outrage at poverty, overpopulation, religious strife, political shenanigans, and the state of the environment. At times the novel sounds a bit preachy, but that’s fairly easy to get past.

Another great read from Tepper!