Have you ever watched a flock of birds sitting on a telephone wire? When one bird flies away, the others all rise up, and there's a lot of flapping and fluttering before they settle back down.The Mayor of Heaven begins as four friends prepare for a party saluting Claire Morganstern -- charismatic, dynamic, and dead of breast cancer at 45. Claire's partner Lucy and her friends Rasheda, Jane, and Harry struggle to reshape their lives, their allegiances, and their expectations as they learn to live with her absence.Lucy discovers that grief is a new form of gravity that alters the world. Rasheda reaches for a definition of family that both transcends tradition and includes her husband and little girl, while Harry wonders how he can continue to love women in the midst of this epidemic. Jane fights to balance a new passion with an old secret. And Claire -- who has been dead six months when the book begins -- still manages to pull the strings.The Mayor of Heaven is both a portrait of a missing person and an exploration of four diverse friends who finally discover what unites them.Praise for Kanter's first novel, On Lill Street: A classic dilemma and one you don't want to miss. On Lill Street is a wonderful novel from a press that is quickly making a name for itself as a publisher of quality lesbian fiction. -- Bay WindowsKanter has created memorable characters, realistic pathos, and subtle emotional nuance. -- Small PressA convincing story about multidimensional characters who find themselves in unbelievably believable situations. -- Lambda Book Report