First published 2001
Annie lies dying in a hospice ward, her body failing but her mind sharp with memories. Her oldest friend Clemmie sits beside her bed, listening as Annie unburdens herself of a lifetime's worth of secrets. The stories pour out: her daughter's obsessive quest to track down her biological father, an American soldier from decades past. Annie watches helplessly as her child disappears into America, chasing ghosts and promises. When her daughter finally returns, she brings with her a man who sets Annie's nerves on edge. Something about him feels wrong, dangerous even. But Annie's warnings fall on deaf ears. As her final days slip away, Annie must confront the choices that shaped her family's fate. In the sterile quiet of the hospice, surrounded by other souls preparing for their own departures, Annie grapples with the weight of maternal love and the bitter knowledge that some mistakes cannot be undone.
Genres: 20th-century, adult-fiction, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: deathbed-confessions, unreliable-narrator
Setting: America, Milwaukee
Period: Decades Past
198 pages · Hardcover · Little, Brown & Co.
Content warnings: terminal-illness