Overview

"How do you break a death bed promise to your best friend? When Sissy came to visit Liz and Cliff Gordon, they weren't expecting her to stay. But she was pregnant and newly widowed, and more importantly, the Gordons loved her. Together, they and their children formed a family-non-traditional, but extraordinary. Eighteen years later, cancer takes Sissy, and leaves behind a legacy so vibrant the family's grief threatens to break them. Liz makes a promise: she'll celebrate Sissy, not mourn her. She won't let her sorrow show. But her husband, Cliff clings to a secret that brings him both joy and pain. Their son, Michael is lost in his guilt. Their daughter, Clara grapples with coming-of-age without her ""second mother."" And Sissy's son, Artie discovers a love that could cause him to lose everything. They've all celebrated Sissy's life... but can they go on without accepting her death?"

Full Product Details

9781952757006

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Reviews

...a captivating story. - Kirkus Reviews This is a mature, wonderful, provocative and starkly memorable narrative that unfolds seamlessly. The prose is well-crafted and embellished in a high-literary style and flows smoothly throughout the book. This wise novel is one of love, loss, seduction, and growth. While the complex circumstances of a third individual entering a marriage is a literary convention that has been explored before, the author is up to the task and does so in a manner that reflects an understanding of the many types of human love and the manifestations of grief. The characters are complex, truly human, and relatable. -BookLife Prize Averill's novel shines as it examines the nature of different forms of love within the framework of a grieving family. The story brims with vivid descriptions, particularly when Averill sets a scene... Clara's arc is a standout, and her romantic feelings for Artie will be relatable to anyone who's experienced the intensity of young love. Even more intriguing are Liz's and Cliff's perspectives as they realize that they've failed to grow as a couple...An often moving story of familial grief. - Kirkus Reviews

"""...a captivating story."" - Kirkus Reviews ""This is a mature, wonderful, provocative and starkly memorable narrative that unfolds seamlessly. The prose is well-crafted and embellished in a high-literary style and flows smoothly throughout the book. This wise novel is one of love, loss, seduction, and growth. While the complex circumstances of a third individual entering a marriage is a literary convention that has been explored before, the author is up to the task and does so in a manner that reflects an understanding of the many types of human love and the manifestations of grief. The characters are complex, truly human, and relatable."" -BookLife Prize ""Averill's novel shines as it examines the nature of different forms of love within the framework of a grieving family. The story brims with vivid descriptions, particularly when Averill sets a scene... Clara's arc is a standout, and her romantic feelings for Artie will be relatable to anyone who's experienced the intensity of young love. Even more intriguing are Liz's and Cliff's perspectives as they realize that they've failed to grow as a couple...An often moving story of familial grief."" - Kirkus Reviews"

Author Information

Growing up in both conservative, Greenwich, CT and whimsical, Santa Fe, NM, Lindsey is the daughter of a gypsy Queen and a gynecologist. Her childhood was filled with rainbows and cotton candy and she believes that if all children had parents like hers then world peace would be right around the corner. A woman of many hearts, Lindsey is a filmmaker, an academic, a writer, an activist, an novelist, a sake and sushi lover, a notorious trashy television watcher, an odd beauty secret keeper, an amazing dancer... really, the list is endless. She's married to a dreamer who calls her pumpkin poop and makes her feel like burping hearts, and she has a son who she fondly calls potato. In her spare time, Lindsey writes stuff for lots of cool media outlets, like CNN, xojane, Time.com, The Huffington Post, Alternet, Refinery29, and Bustle.

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