After 9/11, everyone assumes Emily is dead. Pregnant after having had an affair, she leaves New York for a new start in California. She changes her name to Connie and tells no one – including her husband Drew who is having to care for his ailing mother – that she is still alive. Now years later, living with her thirteen-year-old daughter and working in a bar, Connie gets some life-changing news. Is it finally time for her to acknowledge her past? With the narrative switching between past and present, this is an outstanding debut and an intriguing concept. With a main character who makes all sorts of contentious decisions and an emotionally wrought scenario, it would make a great book club selection.
