First published 2021
Vera Exton wants to join the Peace Corps with her boyfriend, but family obligations keep her trapped in Mason, Kansas. The year is 1972, and she's caring for her widowed mother while her younger sister Kelly finishes veterinary school. Kelly has her own plan mapped out: marry her childhood sweetheart and take over his father's practice. Both sisters are known in their small farming town for their drive and intelligence. Yet neither feels satisfied with the future others expect from them. As the world changes around them in this turbulent decade, Vera and Kelly must each decide whether to honor family expectations or pursue their true desires. Their choices will reshape not only their own lives but the lives of future generations. Deveraux crafts a story about two women finding the courage to be authentic in a world that demands conformity.
Genres: fiction, romance, family-life, historical-fiction, 20th-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, pursuit-of-dreams
Setting: Mason, Kansas
Period: 1972
416 pages · Hardcover · MIRA