Four months after her husband’s death, Janie LaMarche remains undone by grief and anger. Her mourning is disrupted, however, by the unexpected arrival of a builder with a contract to add a porch onto her house. Stunned, Janie realizes the porch was meant to be a surprise from her husband—now his last gift to her. As construction begins, Janie clings to the familiar outposts of her sorrow—mothering her two small children with fierce protectiveness, avoiding friends and family, and stewing in a rage she can’t release.
Yet Janie’s isolation is breached by a cast of unlikely interventionists: her ipecac-toting aunt; her bossy neighbor; her muffin-bearing cousin; and even Tug, the contractor with a private grief all his own. As the porch takes shape, Janie discovers that the unknowable terrain of the future is best navigated with the help of others—even those we least expect to call on, much less learn to love.
News & Reviews
One of the ten best works of fiction in 2009
—Massachusetts Center for the Book, an affiliate of the Library of Congress
Indie Next List Choice, January 2009
—American Booksellers Association
2009 Bookmarked Club
—Target
Featured Book Pick
—Good Housekeeping
“Tinged with searing insight and often hilarious wry humor. ”
—The Boston Globe
“A widow embarks on a year of transformations in Fay’s wise and inspirational debut. The concerns of single motherhood after sudden tragedy come vividly to life, and as Janie learns to appreciate everyday miracles, readers will be charmed.” (Jan.)
— Publisher’s Weekly
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