Free - 484 pages
Dorothy Mustt is born with a deformed leg. This would be curtains for a feral mouse, but because she's born into a family of "Talkers," the Musts, she holds her own. These genetically modified Talkers have evolved into a society of mice capable of compassion and discipline, and Dorothy makes up for her physical handicap by becoming the family’s sage, the first Talker to also learn to read and write.
The Mustts share a house with the Rambacks, a family of dysfunctional Bigs (as the Musts call humans)in a La Jolla development they call Suburbs. As she types her memoir on Jason Ramback’s computer, hiding the file each time, Dorothy assesses the family’s dysfunction, but cannot condemn Jason, the oldest boy, who’s also born with a deformity: a large patch of mouse-like hair on his face. She loves him, as far as a mouse can love a human. She worries he will kill himself to escape the taunts of his three attractive siblings and the indifference of his parents.
While Jason talks openly of suicide with his friend, Dudley, who is shockingly deformed, a request comes from Secret Chambers, the Talker colony across Wide Boulevard. They want her to read the works of Dr. Eden Godwyn, the geneticist at Stedwell Institute who created Talkers, to learn the secret of their creation. While there she runs afoul of Wom, the leader of the colony, and is taken prisoner.
She escapes to the beach, to discover a break-away colony of mice, the Scapists, who live a laid-back life style. Also on the beach she meets the world's oldest mouse, Gilda, a hermit who’s developed a Buddhistic philosophy. She counsels Dorothy about her “affair” with Jason, and reveals information that will thwart Wom’s attempts at mouse-world domination. Will Dorothy be guided by Gilda’s wisdom? Will she tackle Wom or save Jason?
Matters come to a head when Jason’s friend, Dudley, kills himself, and Dorothy must weigh her love of Jason against her loyalty to her family and her Talker nation.
