Toma also appeared in Lawrence 's first novel , '' Montenegro , '' and it seems fitting that so much of '' The Lightning Keeper '' is devoted to science , since the book feels concocted in a laboratory -- you can almost see Lawrence , the editor in chief of W. W. Norton , donning a white coat to pluck Toma away from Europe and gently insert him into the Connecticut town where part of his earlier story collection , '' Legacies , '' took place , just to see what will happen .