First published 2026
Joy Bridport has spent eighty years following every rule in her small Hudson Valley town. She raised her children, supported her husband, and contributed quietly to her community. Then her best friend Hazel receives a terminal diagnosis with only months to live. Hazel has always been the bold one between them, and she faces her fate with peace about a life fully lived. Joy cannot say the same about her own existence. She decides to step outside her careful boundaries while she and Hazel still have time together. What starts as small acts of rebellion grows into actual petty crime as Joy discovers the thrill of breaking free from decades of constraint. But her transformation into "Bad Joy" forces her to weigh what she truly values. She must decide what legacy matters most and whether she can embrace this newfound freedom without destroying everything she holds dear. The novel explores whether it is ever too late to become the person you were meant to be.
Genres: literary-fiction, domestic-fiction, coming-of-age, contemporary, adult-fiction, family-drama
Vibes: bittersweet, intimate, reflective, thought-provoking, transformative
Tropes: bucket-list, found-family, personal-transformation, second-chance
Setting: Hudson Valley
304 pages · Paperback · St. Martin's Griffin
Content warnings: death, terminal-illness