Ella is a young woman who works as a caregiver in Say Say Say by Lila Savage. Her new client is younger than her typical one. Only 60 years old, Jill is brain damaged from a car accident over a decade earlier. She cant hold a coherent conversation or care for herself. Jills husband Bryn hires Ella to give himself a reprieve. He still fiercely loves his wife while grieving for the woman she used to be. Ellas observation of their marriage affects her profoundly, changing her conception of love and duty. This is Savages first book, but based on the reception this book is receiving we may be hearing a lot more of her in the years ahead.
In The Dead Girl in 2A, a thriller by Carter Wilson, Jake Buchanans life is trending downward. Hes suffering from memory loss, as well as guilt from the accident which injured his daughter and ended his marriage. On a plane trip to Denver to undertake a ghostwriting job he hope will start to turn his fortunes around, he finds himself sitting beside Clara Stowe. They both are certain they have met before, but cant identify how. The only things they have in common are being orphaned young and unable to remember their childhood except for a murder scene. Clara reveals she has come to the mountains in order to kill herself and disappears into the airport crowd. The encounter plunges Jake into trying to find more about their shared past, and how they came to be seated together on the plane.
Turning from the thrilling to the charming, Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes features a young widow and a former major league pitcher who has lost his pitching ability. Evvie isnt that sad about being a widow; she was packing to leave her husband when she got the call about his accident. Dean Tenney, the pitcher, rents a room from Evvie when he comes to her small Maine town to retreat from the media attention focused on him. They agree not to talk about her marriage or his baseball career. They find themselves enjoying their new friendship, and maybe more.
Grace Will Lead Us Home by Jennifer Berry Hawes is an account of the murders at Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC and their aftermath. Most people will remember that a young white supremacist sat in on a Bible study at the church, then pulled out his weapon to shoot those who had welcomed him into their study. The world was astounded when grieving family members, at a court hearing, announced their forgiveness of the killer and exhorted him to turn to Christ. Hawes uses the perspectives of several victims and family members to give a fuller account than can be conveyed in a mere news story. He writes about the tragedy and how survivors have worked toward healing.
