First published 1976
Sarah Matthews stands at her kitchen window, watching her neighbors pack moving trucks. The familiar street where she raised her children grows emptier each month. At fifty-two, she feels invisible in a world that seems to value only youth and noise. Her husband barely looks up from his newspaper anymore. Her grown children call less frequently. Even the grocery store clerk looks through her as if she doesn't exist. But when Sarah discovers an old journal in her attic, she begins to remember the dreams she abandoned decades ago. She starts taking evening walks through the city, noticing other forgotten people in doorways and bus stops. A friendship with an elderly man at the library opens her eyes to stories she never heard. Sarah realizes that becoming visible again means first seeing herself clearly. She must choose between the safety of her quiet life and the risk of stepping back into the light.
Genres: literary-fiction, family-life, contemporary
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, second-chance
Setting: City
Period: 21st-Century
510 pages · Paperback · Houghton Mifflin