Ali Smith's The Accidental is an engaging read that follows two paths. One is the path of Amber, a young woman who was conceived in a classic movie theater, and the other is the family whose lives she enters. She arrives unannounced and immediately has an impact. Michael, the husband/stepfather is a college professor with an appetite for his students. He immediately sets his sights on Amber, who rebuffs him at every turn. Eve, the wife/mother, believes that Amber is in fact one of her husband's student (Michael think that Amber is a researcher who has arrived to interview Eve about a series of books she has written). For whatever reason, she appreciates the easy peace that Amber brings to the family, but resents her inwardly at the same time. Magnus, the teenaged boy, is pleasantly obsessed with Amber, who helps him through suicidal feelings and a bit of coming-of-age. And Astrid, a younger girl who turns her nose up at most everything, becomes more open and soft in the older woman's presence. The book does a fine job of exploring the ways that Amber changes all four family members, and also eventually moves in a circular direction to begin the cycle anew (the three sections of the book are split into beginning, middle and end, though the end feels as much like a beginning as the book's opening pages do).