Schmidt Steps Back

In this third installment of the title character's ongoing saga (following About Schmidt and Schmidt Delivered), Schmidt, a retired lawyer and colleague of the rich and famous, is first seen in 2008 as he awaits the arrival of Alice, widow of a former colleague and current object of Schmidt's affections. The novel then returns to 1995, when they first got together in the aftermath of her husband's sudden and mysterious death in Paris and began an on-again, off-again affair. The narrative proceeds to Schmidt's relationship with his daughter, Charlotte, which becomes increasingly complex and disturbing as she marries a man Schmidt does not approve of and then becomes the victim of her manipulative mother-in-law. The story finishes in 2009 as Schmidt and Alice determine the course of their relationship.