But this novel's protagonist is mostly interested in his grandparents, Susan Burling and Oliver Ward, who were an illustrator and mining engineer, respectively.
The protagonist's son is a sociologist named after the author of "The Culprit Fay," Joseph Rodman Drake. The  protagonist's wife left him for the doctor who amputated his leg following his debilitating bone disease. But this novel's protagonist is mostly interested in his grandparents, Susan Burling and Oliver Ward, who were an illustrator and mining engineer, respectively. For ten points, name this novel in which a retired history professor writes the biography of his grandmother, a Pulitzer Prize winner by Wallace Stegner.
The protagonist's son is a sociologist named after the author of "The Culprit Fay," Joseph Rodman Drake.
The Angle of Repose