Night Navigation opens on a night of freezing rain in upstate New York—the kindling gone, the fire in the woodstove out. Del's 37-year-old manic-depressive son, Mark, needs a ride, but she is afraid to make the long drive north to the only detox that has a bed.

Through the four seasons, Night Navigation takes us into the deranged, darkly humorous world of the addict—from break-your-arm dealers to boot-camp rehabs to Rumi quoting NA sponsors. Al-Anon tells Del to “let go”; NAMI tells her to “hang on.” Mark cannot find a way to live in this world. Del cannot stop trying to rescue him. And yet, during this long year's night, through relapse and despair, they see flares of hope as Mark and Del fitfully, painfully try to steer toward the light. Told in the alternating voices of an addict and his mother, this riveting novel adds new depth to our understanding and our literature of parents and their troubled children.