Six years after her 10-year-old son died from cancer, Melissa Henderson is still mourning his loss, only wanting to be left alone. She lost everything with his death: her marriage, her identity as a mother, and her career as a popular author. She buys an old Victorian house in rural New England and has thrown herself into its restoration, becoming a recluse. But after a wildfire that threatened her life and home was featured on national news, Melissa gets a phone call from her estranged sister, Hattie. They had become farther apart than ever when Hattie chose to become a nun. After a bad experience being forced to give up her newborn baby in a gloomy Irish convent, Melissa can't accept Hattie's career choice. But now Hattie uses her position to try and find the child through the red tape and destroyed files. When she finally discovers what actually happened and finds her niece, her own life falls apart while Melissa is finally happy with a daughter and grandchildren she never thought she'd have.
This book touched on two very different topics, catholic adoptions and the #metoo movement. After Ashley is found and the family reunited, the subject flips to sexual harassment/assault in Hollywood. I got a little whiplash trying to figure out where exactly the author was going with this after an already supposedly happy ending. But by the end of the book I was nodding my head along saying ah...ok, I see. I still think the transition between topics could have been a bit smoother, but I ultimately loved this book.
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