Synopses & Reviews
FROM THE AUTHOR OF HER SISTER'S SHADOW
Grace
Flowers
By the water
Have fun!
Those were Joan Littleand#8217;s last words to her daughter, Grace, written on a note she left behind. A grandmother herself, and proprietor of the Little Island Inn off the coast of Maine, Grace takes a pragmatic approach to the message, deciding these are Joanand#8217;s wishes for her memorial service. But it is the last instructionand#151;Have fun!and#151;that has Grace perplexed as she awaits the return of her far-flung clan.
The twins, Roger and Tamar, remain as close as they were in utero. Joy, the oldest, faces an empty nest that raises a troubling question: Who is she when sheand#8217;s not being a mother? But something more than family unity binds the Little family together: a long-buried secret that haunts them all.
Now, they have come together to remember the past and discover that sometimes, all it takes is a few simple words to lift the fog and reveal what really matters.
and#147;Little Islandand#160;is the deeply compassionate story of an extended New England family beleaguered by loss, misunderstandings, and terrible secrets from the past. It is also a story about the power of redemption and self-fulfillment. Ms. Britton understands everything there is to understand about the Maine coast, from the way fog "both muffles and amplifies sound" to the fishing techniques of ospreys. Best of all, she understands how, through love, the human heart can overcome just about anything.and#8221;--Howard Frank Mosher
and#160;
Review
Praise for Her Sisterand#8217;s Shadow
and#8220;The quintessential summer holiday book.and#8221;and#8212;Sally Ryder Brady, author of A Box of Darkness
and#8220;A deeply satisfying read.and#8221;and#8212;Ernest Hebert, author of The Old American and Never Back Down
and#8220;Evocative, compelling, and exquisitely written.and#8221;and#8212;Joni B. Cole, coeditor of Water Cooler Diaries
and#8220;Both evocative and precise...A story of loss, grievance, and the permutations of time, rendered with disarming honesty.and#8221;and#8212;Catherine Tudish, author of Tenneyand#8217;s Landing and American Creamand#160;
"A touching, intricate account of painful memories that radically shapes lives."and#8212;Publishers Weekly
Review
Praise for Little Island
and#8220;A story about the power of redemption and self-fulfillment. Ms. Britton understands everything there is to understand about the Maine coast, from the way fog 'both muffles and amplifies sound' to the fishing techniques of ospreys. Best of all, she understands how, through love, the human heart can overcome just about anything.and#8221;and#8212;Howard Frank Mosher
and#8220;Such luscious writing I wanted to slow down to savor itand#8230;The complicated, flawed, generous Little family reminded me of my own, and how, in the midst of the risks and raptures and currents of life, we save one another.and#8221;and#8212;Nancy Thayer, author of Island Girls
"A beautifully written and deeply thoughtful family story, enriched by Britton's acutely rendered details of a beloved natural landscape and her wise understanding of complex human hearts. The tale is touched with heartbreak but leavened with humor, and is captivating from first page to last."and#8212;Reeve Lindbergh, author of Under a Wing and Forward from Here: Leaving Middle Ageand#8212;and Other Unexpected Adventures
Praise for Her Sisterand#8217;s Shadow
and#8220;The quintessential summer holiday book.and#8221;and#8212;Sally Ryder Brady, author of A Box of Darkness
and#8220;A deeply satisfying read.and#8221;and#8212;Ernest Hebert, author of The Old American and Never Back Down
and#8220;Evocative, compelling, and exquisitely written.and#8221;and#8212;Joni B. Cole, coeditor of Water Cooler Diaries
and#8220;Both evocative and precise...A story of loss, grievance, and the permutations of time, rendered with disarming honesty.and#8221;and#8212;Catherine Tudish, author of Tenneyand#8217;s Landing and American Creamand#160;
"A touching, intricate account of painful memories that radically shapes lives."and#8212;Publishers Weekly
and#160;
Synopsis
An emotionally powerful debut about two sisters who reconnect after nearly forty years of estrangement. Renowned painter Lilli Niles is at home in her North London flat when she receives an unexpected call from her elder sister, Bea, who's at the family homestead in Whitehead, Massachusetts. Bea's husband has just died, and she'd like Lilli to fly home to attend the funeral. There are reasons Lilli moved all the way to England to escape her older sister, reasons that have kept them estranged for decades. But something in Bea's voice makes Lilli think it's time to return to the stately house in New England she loved as a child, to the memory of the beloved younger sister they both lost. With Bea more fragile than Lilli remembered, maybe she can finally forgive Bea for a long-ago betrayal that has simmered between them for nearly forty years.
About the Author
Katharine Britton teaches at the Institute of Lifelong Education at Dartmouth College, the Writerand#8217;s Barn in Shelburne and the Writerand#8217;s Center in White River, Vermont.and#160; She has written three screenplays, one of which is a Moondance International Film Festival winner, and has a masterand#8217;s degree in creative writing from Dartmouth College.and#160; She is the author of one previous novel, Her Sisterand#8217;s Shadow, and lives in Vermont.and#160;