Her father is gone for good — not on a business trip like her mother said — and Annie knows it. Her little brother, Gus, might believe that he'll come back, but Annie is too sharp, too observant, to believe this comforting lie. In their little house by the shore of Lake Michigan, where everything is the same and yet not, Annie, Gus, and their dreamy, beautiful mother, Paige, are on their own. Then, to add to Annie's confusion, her mother starts to date Shepherd, a well-meaning and steadfast man who isn't deterred by Paige's frequent refusals of his affections. His devotion to her mother and kindhearted interest in her and Gus aside, Annie can't tell if letting this man into their small, odd family will be the solution to their problems or the start of new ones.

Revealing the intricacies of the adult world through the simple eyes of a child, Now You Love Me is a heartbreaking yet genuinely funny story about the joys and pitfalls of growing up and growing older.

"In this novelistic arrangement of interrelated tales, Litzenburger explores similar emotional and geographical terrain as her recent debut, The Widower, beginning again after a traumatic loss in an isolated small town in Northern Michigan. 'Pictures from My Father's Trip' introduces nine-year-old Annie Child, whose narration drives the book. In Annie's covert hoarding of her father's shoe in a neighbor's mailbox, Litzenburger articulates the loss that dominates the narrative-the sudden departure of a parent-and adds narrative clues as the book progresses, including divorce papers in 'The Day Before Easter.' Annie's mother, Paige, embarks on a relationship with the flamboyant but nice Shepherd Nash, an electrician and artist who 'tries too hard' to fashion them all (including Annie's brother Gus) into a family. In 'This Beautiful Day,' Paige's wild grief catches up to her, while 'Light' and 'Here We Are' relate the struggles of the family to find joy in starting over. Annie's father is an elusive figure, and Litzenburger doesn't find a good way of talking about some of Paige's more adult quandaries. Litzenburger's child's-eye view of a family on the brink is complex but finally confounding." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"It's pure joy to read each of these sentences....[Litzenburger] takes tremendous care with words and ideas, layering them effortlessly to create these beautiful, wounded souls." Grand Rapids Press

"There is also beauty here, in the determination of these broken, isolated people to survive and, ultimately, to connect." Chicago Tribune

"Annie, a 9-year-old in a Michigan resort town, narrates Lisel Litzenburger's Now You Love Me, the story of her broken family. Her dad skips town for an extra-long ''trip'' and never returns, leavi....Even small episodes are enlarged through the eyes of this insightful and totally believable little girl. (Grade:A-)" Entertainment Weekly

Litzenburger's humorous and luminous collection of linked tales is about a year in a family's search for love.

Liesel Litzenburger's writing has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and appeared in the Chicago Tribune, the Detroit Free Press, Michigan Quarterly Review, Poets & Writers, and various other publications and anthologies. She lives in Michigan. Visit her at www.LieselOnline.com.