So begins Paul Auster's The Brooklyn Follies, set against the backdrop of the contested US presidential election of 2000. Nathan and Tom are an uncle and nephew double-act - one in remission from lung cancer, divorced, and estranged from his only daughter, the other hiding away from what was a once-promising academic career. By accident the pair wind up in the same Brooklyn neighborhood, and then matters change for them further when Lucy - a little girl who refuses to speak - comes into their lives, offering a bridge from the pasts of both men and, perhaps, a shot at redemption.