“This dazzling combination of riotous imagination with bottomless compassion makes this such a stellar debut. Readers will surely remember Clara and her crew―they are utterly distinct, and beautifully realized.”
―Aimee Bender, author of The Color Master, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, and four other novels
Eccentric widow Clara Breckenridge, seventy-three, is on a last-ditch journey to reconcile with her estranged son, confront the guilty secrets tied to her daughter’s death, and maybe find love again before she dies, miserable and alone. Magic purple wasps saved her as a child from an abusive father, and they want to help her now—but Clara, scared and stubborn, runs from revelation. When her beloved old house gets slated for destruction, Clara insists her son haul the entire structure from Eugene, Oregon, to Jackpot, Nevada. There she encounters troubled young people abandoned by their parents who turn Clara’s life upside down. Still, she won’t confront her past. Can Clara’s purple wasp companion actually help Clara join life again? Or will time run out, leaving her devastated and alone?
Author: Maryl Jo Fox
Publication Date: November 21, 2017
