Beginning ~ with a blizzard

The Orphan Daughter ~ by Cari Noga, 2018, fiction (Michigan)

Chapter 1 ~ Lucy (April 13, 2011)

"Phoebe and I walk around on woodchip trails, looking at wildflowers and listening for birds, so we can fill out the flora and fauna columns on our worksheets."

Chapter 2 ~ Jane (April 15, 2011)

"Shifting back onto my heels, I admire the row of new green shoots I've uncovered."

The book actually begins in the Prologue, with a look at Jane 20 years earlier (January 1991):

"Kodiak had hunkered under a blizzard for the last two days."

Cari Noga

Confusing so far, right?  Here's the story:

At forty-five, Jane McArdle has experienced her share of life’s twists and turns.  Yet she’s shaken by the sudden death of her estranged half sister and the news that she’s now the guardian of her orphaned niece, Lucy.  Still nurturing unresolved grief from a marriage bookended by loss, as well as her guilt over her adult son’s imperfect upbringing, Jane is her own worst enemy, content to focus on her small Michigan farm.  Now, confronted with a traumatized eleven-year-old, the prickly empty nester is thrust into motherhood again, unsure she’ll do any better this time.

City girl Lucy is bewildered by aloof Aunt Jane and a new life in rural Michigan.  The debilitating phobia Lucy has developed since her parents’ deaths keeps her stuck in this place that’s nothing like home.  She secretly plots to run away to live with other relatives.  Jane and Lucy must decide if they’ll both endure yet another loss — each other — or if their paths will lead them to forge a new family together.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays. Click here for today's Linky.