First published 2007
Calamity stands at fifty-something, having long ago traded her birth name Chastity for something that better fits her nature. Her father's recent death coincides with menopause, and both changes awaken her dormant ability to locate missing objects. Hot flashes now seem to pull lost things from nowhere. When a four-year-old boy appears on the beach instead of her usual recovered trinkets, Calamity takes him in. The child's family proves far from ordinary. Caring for this strange boy forces Calamity to confront buried memories of her own childhood and her mother's mysterious vanishing years ago. She must navigate the intersection of her supernatural gift, her grief, and the secrets that have shaped her life.
Genres: fantasy, contemporary, magical-realism, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, second-chance
Setting: Beach
Period: Menopause
336 pages · Hardcover · Grand Central Publishing
Content warnings: mental-illness