In the shadow of Manhattan’s St John’s Cathedral, Candace Snark, a shy, overweight and lonely literary agent from Nowhere, Ohio, finds inspiration in the words of John Milton’s Satan–Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav’n. Taking these words to heart, she reinvents herself and nearly attains metro perfection, but not quite. Instead, Candy sets in motion a chain of events that change not only her waistline but also the world. Or perhaps the world thing’s just a coincidence of timing.

Set against the backdrop of disastrous post-Global warming floods, Candy’s life spirals into a series of misadventures that as an agent she’d have found entertainingly dark and edgy, at least within the pages of a book. Along the way she’s forced to confront her world and herself, both as they were and as they’ve become, eventually finding hope and wholeness in faith (not necessarily the religious kind).

Candy Land weaves magical realism and subtle literary and cultural references in a sideways Bildungsroman that sassily tangles with notions of reason, intuition, love, faith, self-sacrifice and the power of words.