First published 2018
Eva, called Lovey by everyone back home, left Oxford, Mississippi eighteen years ago after a shed fire changed everything between her and her older sister Bitsy. Bitsy became the golden child while Lovey carried the blame for what happened that day. Now Lovey works as an advertising executive in Arizona, far from her sister's accusations and the weight of family expectations. When her father calls demanding she come home three weeks early for her parents' fiftieth anniversary, Lovey faces a choice between the biggest contract of her career and family duty. She returns to find her father planning a secret memory garden for her mother. Working in the soil alongside him, Lovey begins to see her childhood differently. The red dirt roads and literary history of Oxford start to feel like home again. As she helps create this sacred space among the perennial flowers, Lovey discovers that some family stories have more than one side.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: second-chance, sisters
Setting: Arizona, Mississippi, Oxford
Period: 18 Years Ago
517 pages · Library Binding · Thorndike Press Large Print