First published 2011
Francesca Thayer faces financial ruin after her lawyer boyfriend Todd leaves her. She owns a struggling art gallery and can no longer afford the mortgage on her Greenwich Village townhouse alone. Desperate, she advertises for boarders. Three strangers answer her call. Eileen is a young schoolteacher who moved from Los Angeles to New York. Chris is a divorced father fighting for custody of his seven year old son. Marya is a cookbook author starting over after her husband died. The four begin as reluctant housemates in the turn of the century home with leaky plumbing and garage sale furniture. As Francesca works to save her gallery and the tenants navigate their own struggles, something unexpected happens. The strangers become friends, then family. But challenges remain. Eileen makes dangerous choices with online dating. Chris faces an escalating custody battle. Marya confronts a decision that will change everything. Through one transformative year at 44 Charles Street, four people discover that the connections they never planned might be exactly what they needed.
Genres: fiction, romance, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, second-chance
Setting: Greenwich Village, New York
Period: 21st-century
336 pages · Hardcover · Delacorte Press