First published 2015
An eighty-year-old con artist who has spent her life tricking people out of their money faces a new reality when she discovers she has Alzheimer's. She boards a cruise ship, hoping to find something more valuable than cash: genuine human connection. Meanwhile, a reality show creator finds his carefully constructed world disrupted when his estranged granddaughter returns, desperately needing a new heart. A young teacher struggles alongside her student to make ends meet. These characters navigate a world where money determines worth, yet each discovers that survival requires more than financial calculation. Parents and siblings, artists and swindlers all grapple with the same questions: how to obtain what they need, how to give what they can, and what truly matters when everything has a price. Their stories reveal how the pursuit of money shapes relationships, forces impossible choices, and ultimately leads each person to confront what they value most.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, redemption
Setting: Cruise Ship
Period: Contemporary
271 pages · Kindle Edition · Counterpoint
Content warnings: mental-illness