Showing results by publisher "She Writes Press" in Family Life

After David Herron takes his life in the wake of the bursting lending bubble of 2008, those left behind—his wife and daughter, the detective who investigated the suicide, and the banker who called in the loan—learn, as they struggle to remake their worlds, that there is power in forgiveness and unlimited possibility in the unknown.

Valeria Vose: A Novel takes a listener deep inside the cultural and emotional life of a 1970’s southern woman. Privileged, approaching age 40, her “perfect” life is shattered. Determined to survive, she’s forced to confront all preconceived values and expectations in order to find a path toward creative, spiritual independence and her true identity.

On the advice of a five-dollar psychic, Tina Martin, a zany, overworked mother of two, quits her high-powered job and moves her family to Shanghai. Tina yearns for this new setting to bring her the zen-like inner peace she’s always heard about on infomercials. Instead, she becomes a totally exasperated fish out of water. Fish Heads and Duck Skin will resonate with anyone who has ever wondered who they are, why they were put here, and how they ever lived before eating pan-fried pork buns.

People like Feeney Simms don’t die by suicide. Beautiful, charismatic, mother of two, wife to a handsome, successful husband, beloved by her friends—this is not the typical picture of a tortured soul. But one summer night, Feeney drives to the beach and swallows a handful of pills. No note, no explanation, nothing. Like that, she’s gone.

In this debut collection of richly evocative short stories, writer Linda Feyder portrays a diverse group of protagonists seeking fulfillment and connection in sunny California. She sketches her characters – of different ages, genders, and classes – with pitch-perfect honesty as they reassess their identities or confront the exact moment they face the fragility of life or themselves. A teenage girl travels to California from New York for an uneasy visit with the father she hasn't seen for years.

Adopted soon after birth, Joshua is a beautiful, lovable boy--but as he grows, his high-risk, self-destructive behaviors drive his adoptive mother to despair. Told through the voices of an adoptee, his desperate young birth mother, and his loving but grieving adoptive mother who never gives up hope, this novel will resonate with anyone who has been part of the adoption triangle, as well as anyone who questions what makes our children uniquely who they are.