clever plot and luminous characters.Booklist

a compelling, richly layered storybittersweet humor and well drawn characters.Library Journal

A dreamy, powerful tale. peopled by lovably imperfect and eccentric characters. Publishers Weekly

A dazzling mosaic of intersecting lives and fates [A] multi-layered rhapsody.Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

A story of broken hearts and broken promises, it is also the story of the ways we put things back togethermessily, beautifully, and ultimately triumphantly.Sheri Holman, author of The Dress Lodger

Elderly Margaret Hughes is living alone in a mansion in Seattle with only a massive collection of antiques for company when she meets Wanda Schultz, a young woman with a broken heart who has come to Seattle to search for her wayward boyfriend. Both women are guarding dark secrets and have spent years building up protective armor against the outside world. But as the two begin their tentative dance of friendship, the armor begins to fall away and Margaret opens her house to the younger woman. This triggers some surprising events, leading Margaret to discover a way to redeem her cursed past and Wanda to learn the 1 purpose of her cross-country journey.

This exuberant novel is a testament to the saving graces of surrogate families and shows how far the tiniest repair jobs can go in righting the worlds wrongs.

Stephanie Kallos spent twenty years in the theater as an actress and teacher, and her short fiction has been nominated for both a Raymond Carver Prize and a Pushcart Prize. She lives in Seattle with her husband and two children.

Anna Fields has found her 1 home behind the microphone after beginning her career on the stage in Washington, D.C. She has garnered several AudioFile Earphones Awards and won the coveted Audie Award in 2004.