A writer of historical fiction investigates a little-known chapter of the Kennedy assassination. Several months prior to the shocking events of November 1963, a recently separated Ruth Paine, seeking companionship and expressing a desire to learn the Russian language, invited Marina Oswald to live in her home in a suburb outside of Dallas. She helped Lee Harvey Oswald get a job at the Texas shoolbook repository, and he stored his rifle in her garage. Thomas Mallon examines the events of that period and what they might reveal about Lee Harvey Oswald`s activities prior to assassinating the president. A New York Times Notable Book for 2002.