Publisher's Synopsis
From one of America's most beloved storytellers comes the gripping novel of a mother who must help her son after he is convicted of a devastating crime. Perfect for book clubs and fans of Mary Beth Keane and Jodi Picoult--this novel asks the question, how well does any mother know her child?
This latest novel from #1 New York Times and #1 USA Today bestselling author Jacquelyn Mitchard is a wrenching mother-son story of a woman who must push past her own doubts and dread to help her only child create a new life after he is convicted in the death of his high school sweetheart.
For Thea, understanding how her sweet son Stefan could commit such a heinous crime is unfathomable. Stefan was only seventeen when he went to prison for the negligent homicide of girlfriend, college freshman Belinda McCormack, a crime he was too strung out on drugs even to remember. Released at twenty-one, he is seen as a symbol of white privilege and differential justice by his local community, as Belinda's mother and neighbor Jill McCormack organizes protests in her daughter's memory against dating violence.
Stefan is sincere in his desire to start over and make amends, and Thea is committed to helping him. But each of their attempts seems to hit a roadblock, both emotionally and psychologically from the ever-present pressure of local protestors, the media, even their own family.
But when the attacks on them turn more sinister, Thea suspects that there is more to the backlash than community outrage. She will risk her life to find out what forces are at work to destroy her son and her family and what those who are threatening them are trying to hide.
This is a story in which everything known to be true is turned inside out. Love is the only constant that remains.
