Undone by motherhood, judged by her husband, thirty-two-year-old Rachel Clayborne flees with her baby in the middle of the night for the one place on earth that’s been her refuge: her grandmother’s lakehouse in northern Wisconsin. Hoping to reconnect with a former, healthier self, she instead faces a confused and dying grandmother, her ever-present nurse who seems bent on thwarting each of Rachel’s desires, and a changed ex-boyfriend—her first and most passionate love. As a constant rain threatens the nearby dam, Rachel struggles to discern what’s happened to the discern what’s happened to the past, who she’s become, and what kind of a life she will make for herself now—one that clings to ghosts or opens bravely to a wild new geography.
From the acclaimed author ofNina: AdolescenceandThe Priest’s Madonnacomes a gripping new novel that depicts the transformative power of motherhood with honesty, wit, and compassion.
“Taut, beautifully written, and suspenseful, this resonant, feminist drama eschews easy answers. A page-turner of the highest caliber.”
—Kirkus Reviews,starred review
"This book does what my favorite books always do: grab the reader with tautness and fierce intelligence, so that even the quiet drama of it gets pulled into the page-turning qualities of the narrative. I could say, Read this book. Instead I’ll say, Start this book. You won’t stop reading until its terrific ending."
—Leigh Allison Wilson, author ofWindandFrom the Bottom Up
"Forces of nature—big water and big love—come together in this literary page-turner. Amy Hassinger has woven a tale out of the very earth where the Ojibwe live. her protagonist—Rachel—is a lover, mother, and activist, a woman of our time on a hero's journey toward wholelS¯
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