New York : Pamela Dorman Books/Viking, [2012].

Book

321 pages ; 24 cm

English

9780143123323, 9780143123323, 0670023566, 9780670023561 (hbk.)

Estranged from the sister who refused to testify against an abusive husband, Clare pursues a quiet life as a nature blogger in Manhattan only to be approached by her niece, Grit, with whom she confronts a painful shared history.

Clare Burke's life took a devastating turn when she tried to protect her sister, Anne, from an abusive and controlling husband and ended up serving prison time for assault. The verdict largely hinged on Anne's defense of her spouse, all lies, and the sisters have been estranged ever since. Nearly twenty years later, Claire is living a quiet life in Manhattan as an urban birder and nature blogger, when her niece, Grit, turns up on her doorstep. The two long for a relationship with each other, but they'll have to dig deep into their family's difficult past in order to build one. Together, they face the wounds inflicted by Anne and her husband and find in their new connection a place of healing. When Clare begins to suspect her sister might have followed Grit to New York, she and her niece hold out hope for a long-awaited reunion with her...but will it be the joyous occasion they dream of? And will Clare and her longtime partner, Paul, whose complicated relationship has been sorely tested through the years, find a way back to love and to each other, again?--From inside front flap of book jacket.

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