September 1965: It's the first day of Grade One for six-year-old Jack Klein. It's also the day that two startling events occur: Jack's mother Lorraine learns that her husband, Ray, is having an affair. Lorraine also discovers that her secret love, the elderly Frenchman who rents the basement suite, has committed suicide, leaving 36 canaries, a suitcase full of European currency, a small sack of gold teeth and a terrifying photograph. Lorraine's decisions about the money, the photograph and Ray's infidelity will change her life and the lives of her son and husband. With bristling dialogue and lean prose, Buday paints a compelling, darkly funny and profound portrait of a turbulent decade, a complex marriage and one small boy who leaves behind innocence for an uncertain future. For the Klein family and for readers, life at the end of the day will never be the same. Book jacket.