Lorrie Moore's new novel, Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? revolves around a middle-aged woman's memories of her youth. Berie Carr, a middle-aged curator of photographs at a historical society, is in Paris with her husband Daniel, a medical researcher who is attending a conference. Their marriage is in trouble and she feels restless. "Safety is in me," she notes, "holds me straight like a spine. My blood travels no new routes." And so her mind takes her back to 1972 when she was 15 years old in Horsehearts, New York. Berie remembers: "I only wanted my body to bloom and bleed and be loved. I was raw with want, but in part it was a simple want, one made for easy satisfaction, quick drama, deep life: I wanted to go places and do things with Sils."
Sils is her best friend, known as the most sophisticated girl in town, certainly the most attractive. The two of them work at Storyland, an amusement park. Sils is dressed up as Cinderella and Berie is a cashier. They share secrets, listen to music, go to dances at a local club, and laugh convulsively at everything.
Berie demonstrates her loyalty when she appropriates money from the amusement park to pay for Sils's abortion. As a result, her strict parents send her to church camp. Eventually, she loses touch with her friend.
Lorrie Moore's light touch deftly conveys the contrast between Berie's adolescent adventures and the dullness of her adult life. After attending a high school class reunion where she sees Sils, the protagonist grieves over the end of wildness in her life. On the closing page of the novel, she recalls a single shining moment from her childhood and realizes that nothing has matched it since.