by Ethan Joella
First published 2026
June 1975. Eighteen-year-old Maggie Bishop should be celebrating her high school graduation, but grief consumes her thoughts. Her older brother Chip died after receiving a devastating medical diagnosis the previous summer. Before his death, Chip disappeared for several months without telling his family where he went. Maggie discovers he spent his final days at The Red Maple Inn, a mountaintop resort in the Poconos. She travels there seeking answers about what Chip did and who he met during those lost months. The resort's close community welcomes Maggie, and she begins forming connections with the people who knew her brother. As she pieces together Chip's story, Maggie starts processing her own pain while helping others work through their losses. This dual-narrative novel follows Maggie across two summers as she grows from a grieving teenager into someone who understands how human connection can transform sorrow into healing.
Genres: literary-fiction, grief, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, second-chance
Setting: Poconos, Red Maple Inn
Period: 1975
256 pages · Hardcover · Scribner