First published 2021
Fern Castle shelves books at the local library and eats dinner with her twin sister Rose three times each week. She keeps to quiet spaces and avoids anything that might disrupt her careful routines. When Rose learns she cannot conceive a child, Fern sees an opportunity to repay years of sisterly protection and support. She will carry a baby for Rose. All she needs now is to locate a suitable father. This seemingly straightforward plan forces Fern outside her structured existence and awakens buried family secrets. As Fern pursues her mission, the controlled life she has built begins to crack. The search for a father becomes more complicated than she anticipated. Old mistakes surface, threatening both sisters. Fern must navigate unfamiliar territory while Rose struggles with her own desires and fears. Their weekly dinners take on new tension as hidden truths emerge about their shared past and the incident that shaped their relationship.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Local Library
309 pages · Hardcover · St. Martin's Press
Content warnings: infertility