The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett is the story of a woman in love with a gay man, the magician Parsifal. She lives in the house that  Parsifal and his gay lover, Phan lived in. After Phan dies of AIDS Parsifal marries his long time friend and assistant, Sabine. Sabine inherits the house and most of his assets when Parsifal dies in the first chapter of the book. She learns form the lawyer that Parsifal had indeed had a family, which he had kept a secret from her for over twenty years that they were close. She learns more about his past from this family which she chooses to visit in Nebraska. Ann Patchett's writing is magical itself. I listened to the audio by performer Karen Ziemba. Beautifully done. Highly recommended.~

From Publishers Weekly

After working as his assistant for more than 20 years, Sabine marries her beloved boss, Parcifal, knowing that he's gay and has just lost his lover. What she doesn't find out until after his death from AIDS is that Parcifal was actually Guy Fettera from Alliance, Neb., and had a family he never spoke about. Karen Ziemba creates an appropriately light tone for the narrator, despite some dark events that Sabine discovers when she visits Parcifal's sweet, dysfunctional family. She crafts clear, flat Midwest accents for the magician's mother and sisters and her pace and annunciation are excellent. Ziemba's men all sound alike, but they play minimal roles. She is an experienced and professional reader with just the right stuff for Patchett's 1997 novel, which probes the complex motives of Parcifal and his assistant. A Harcourt paperback (Reviews, July 14, 1997)
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