by Frances Greenslade (Get the Book)Set in the rugged beauty of rural British Columbia, Greenslade's captivating novel opens in late 1960, when sisters Maggie and Jenny live with parents Patrick and Irene. Though her family provides a nurturing home, young narrator Maggie is often plagued with anxiety that tragedy is just around the corner. Maggie's worst fears are realized when Patrick is killed in a work-related accident. Left as sole provider, Irene soon decides to leave the girls with an old family acquaintance, with the assumption that she will return for her daughters once she secures steady work. As weeks stretch into months, and Irene's correspondence eventually halts, the sisters begin to accept that they have been abandoned. Maggie and Jenny try to move on with their new lives until unexpected circumstances leave Maggie with no choice but to search for Irene and, with the help of others, journey to uncover the true answers behind her mother's unexplained departure. In this unhurried saga, Greenslade finely captures Maggie's maturing vulnerabilities while exploring well-groomed themes of family and love, and the meaning of home. --Booklist
