Long Island, 1938. A fireworks factory explodes in a quiet coastal town. In the house on Salt Hay Road, Clay Poole is thrilled by the hole it's blown in everyday life. His older sister, Nancy, is more interested in the striking stranger who appears, dusted with ashes, in the explosion's aftermath. The Pooles--taken in as orphans by their mother's family--can't yet know how the bonds of their makeshift household will be tested and frayed. A vivid and emotionally resonant debut, "The House on Salt Hay Road "captures the golden light of a vanished time, and the hold that home has on us long after we leave it.