A darkly magical novel about a mysterious family legacy, the bonds of sisterhood, and the strange and powerful ways we are shaped by the places we call home, from the critically acclaimed author of Shallow Graves.
For the first eight years of her life, an unusual apple orchard in Vermont is Sorrow Lovegood's whole world. The land has been passed down through generations of brave, resilient women, and while their offbeat habits may be ridiculed by other townspeople—especially their neighbors, the Abrams family—Sorrow and her family take pride in its odd history.
Then one winter night, an unthinkable tragedy changes everything. In the aftermath, Sorrow is sent to Miami to live with her father, away from the only home she's ever known.
Now sixteen, Sorrow's memories of her life in Vermont are maddeningly hazy. She returns to the orchard for the summer, determined to learn more about her troubled childhood and the family she left eight years ago. But it soon becomes clear that some of her questions have difficult—even dangerous—answers. And there may be a price to pay for asking.
- Small Town Mystery: Sorrow returns to the isolated Abrams Valley, a town simmering with gossip and a generations-old feud between her family and their powerful neighbors, the Abramses.
- Contemporary Gothic: An unusual apple orchard with an odd history holds the key to Sorrow's past, but its darkly magical influence might be as dangerous as the truth it hides.
- Sisterhood and Grief: Eight years ago, an unthinkable tragedy took Sorrow's sister, Patience. Now, to honor her memory, Sorrow must face the hazy, terrifying gaps in her own.
- Magical Realism: The women of the Lovegood family have always been resilient, but the strange power of the orchard that sustains them may demand a terrible price for its secrets.
