In this whimsical novel we meet a young couple on the brink of marriage in contemporary northern California. Our protagonist is the eponymous Veblen, an endearing if slightly eccentric (she talks to squirrels) woman who has long been under the thumb of her hypochondriac mother. Her fiance Paul is an ambitious doctor, in every way the antithesis of his hippie parents. Together, they have enough family dysfunction to potentially derail their happy ending. This book is an insightful and satisfying portrayal of contemporary marriage and the necessity of shedding the ghosts of your past in order to build a shared future.