The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett

The Magician's Assistant, Ann Patchett.  New York:  Harcourt, Inc., 1997.  e-book, 252 pps.

http://annpatchett.com/
@Ann_Patchett on twitter [outdated]
@ParnassusBooks1 on twitter [book store she is co-owner of and in use currently].

The magician is dead.  Parsifel is dead.  His grieving widow, who was also his assistant, left behind the rabbit named Rabbit, and a bunch of money.  Some of it was in the form of a structured trust to three women that Sabine had never heard of.  But Parsifel's family was dead.  He was from Connecticut, he had told her, and they had died in a horrific car accident.  An old postcard spoke the truth.  The magician had staged his own disappearing act.  He was not from Connecticut.  And his family was very much alive.  The rest of the book tells the story of what Sabine discovers about Parsifel and his family after his death. 

sapphoq reviews says:  This is the second Ann Patchett book that I've read and I plan to read the rest of them now.  The Magician's Assistant gave me a sense of being there.  I was in the audience at The Magic Hat and at the Johnnie Carson show.  I was at the cemetery outside of Los Angeles.  I was watching the snow twirl and fall outside the window of the little house in Nebraska.  The conversations were realistic, the characters were complex, and Rabbit was a darling.  Highly recommended to intelligent readers who enjoy a sense of place and who enjoy unconventional love stories.