When lovelorn Lydia Swain prays to the angel she knows is up there, she doesn't know whether the angel will answer her prayer. He's not sure either, being just a little bit lazy and something of a sleepyhead. But when he's persuaded-by an angelic kick in the rear end-he finds himself involved not only in a love story, but a political imbroglio.

The adventure that follows moves from forests of towering jeefwood trees to the highest reaches of heaven. It includes shipwrecks, protest marches, greedy politicians, and art. Art? Yes. And courage, and possible ecological disaster. It includes ruminations about time and the heart and considers the nature of high ideals, angelhood, and humanity.

Sid Hite evokes the imaginary nation of Korasan with such vividness that we want to visit it, and introduces us to people and angels we wish we knew. The novel is generous and funny, philosophical and irreverent, and gives us cause for reflection, even as we race to find out what happens at the end.