First published 2003
Elaine arrives at Sunset Terrace with her daughters Hannah and Daisy in the summer of 1983. The shabby Los Angeles apartment building shelters single mothers trying to rebuild their lives. Elaine and her girls have spent three years drifting from town to town after Hannah found her father's body in his study. Now Elaine works to scrape together rent money while searching for stability in California. Hannah, quiet and displaced by constant school changes, finds friendship with Bridget from apartment one. The bold nine-year-old was left as a baby in a supermarket parking lot and now lives with foster parents. Bridget teaches Hannah to scale fences and pocket candy from stores. Elaine grows fond of the spirited child too, inviting her for meals and overnight stays. She wants to mother this abandoned girl but fails to see how Bridget draws Hannah toward trouble. When summer ends, Hannah joins a cruel game that destroys the fragile peace they have built together.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, 20th-century, contemporary, social-issues, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, friends-to-lovers
Setting: California, Los Angeles, Sunset Terrace
Period: 1983, Summer
311 pages · Hardcover · MacAdam/Cage
Content warnings: child-abuse, mental-illness