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Summary
“…Mercer’s prose is lucid and her themes of redemption and reinvention are resonant…” — Kirkus Reviews
A large family saga set in a coastal tourist town:
One sister chained by family tradition.
The second stunted by her sister’s shadow.
The youngest propelled by desperation.
One sister chained by family tradition.
The second stunted by her sister’s shadow.
The youngest propelled by desperation.
Gwen is the oldest of four children in the Aaldenberg family, and the one who seems to have it all. She’s also most desperate to escape. Betta, having nursed their dying grandpa for the past three years, is anxious for Gwen to go, so she can finally have reins to the family business. And Esmerelda, viciously determined to follow in Gwen’s footsteps, vies for popularity as a freshman in high school, only to learn she must sell her soul, reputation, and most prized possession for acceptance.
As their father struggles with retirement and their mother with depression, Gwen discovers the debt her grandfather’s passing left them in–and during a time of year when their coastal town, dependent on tourists, can barely sustain itself. Gwen and their father agree Betta can’t take over the store under such stressful circumstances, not when she’s been carrying the load for so long, and to protect Betta, they play it off that she needs some time to rest.
When Gwen’s fiancé moves to town, Gwen does her best to resign herself to a local life, while Betta struggles for meaning without the store. In order to carve out a place for herself, Betta must decide to what lengths she’ll go in order to become her own person, and Gwen must decide what’s more important: her sister or her future. Can this family pull through their disappointment, jealousy, and regret? Or will they cling so tightly to their desires that it ruins them?
About J. Mercer
J. Mercer grew up in Wisconsin where she walked home from school with her head in a book, filled notebooks with stories in junior high, then went to college for accounting and psychology only to open a dog daycare. She wishes she were an expert linguist, is pretty much a professional with regards to competitive dance hair (bunhawk, anyone?), and enjoys exploring with her husband–though as much as she loves to travel, she’s also an accomplished hermit. Perfect days include cancelled plans, rain, and endless hours to do with what she pleases. Find her on Facebook @jmercerbooks or online at www.jmercerbooks.com.
Excerpt
The store was still, silent, and stifling in this farce of a town.
No busy rush of traffic outside, no excitement of what might come next, no scent of promise—that’s what Gwen wanted, instead of the face they put on for the tourists.
She belonged in the city, and she’d known it since the day she’d first heard of one. She promised Gage it would happen as soon as her grandpa died, but now her father was telling her it was her responsibility to take over the store.
Gwen swallowed her shock, a lump in her throat stopping up her words. He had to know how much she wanted the opposite, to not be tied to this small town and their store, both at the mercy of the tourist season, their lives taken over by strangers for five months, then a desolate emptiness sweeping in for the other seven. And she wanted out of a life of shoulds.
“It’s how we do it, Gwennie.” They stood on either side of the front counter, the register open next to her as she collected the day’s deposit. The front door was already locked, and most of the lights were off.
Gwen dug her nails into her palm. She should have gone after high school graduation four years ago, but her mom piled on a load of ‘shoulds’ then, too. A load she slowly struggled out from under until there was this last one left—stay until Pops is gone; help your father with the store so your sister can focus on taking care of him. The other shoulds, the saving money, she’d saved—for three years she’d saved. And the concern she wouldn’t make it because she was a small town girl? Well, now she had Gage.
Shaking her mother’s guilt off her shoulders, Gwen stood taller. “Give it to Betta.”
“Betta has been under such strain taking care of Pops. She can’t come in right now and handle all this.”
“All what? The tourists are almost gone. It’s the best time.”
“It’s the hardest.” Her dad glanced at the bundle of cash and credit card receipts in her fist. She let out a steady breath and smoothed the pile on the counter. “Give it a month, Gwen, maybe two. Let your sister recover. Who knows when she last had a full night’s sleep.”
Gwen took in his doughy face, the line of his nose that was both hers and her grandpa’s. The years there which spoke of the many Aaldenbergs before him, all who worked this store in the same way. When the oldest generation passed, the property was left to the next, who then retired to live off the rent their children paid them, while their children managed the store and took a salary.
So far, so good. They were a fixture in town and held their heads high. Aaldenberg Hardware, though it was more than that—a general store, really, providing everything for everyone—reached back to a time before the big developers claimed the suburbs, back to a time when no one else provided much of anything.
It was what her father stood on. And her mother, after she failed at the city. It was what Betta lived for. Her dad was right, though. Betta was exhausted. As miserable as Gwen had been, waiting to get out, Betta had done the hardest work. She did deserve a break.
It had already been three years, what was another month or two? And with her mom’s words of caution in her ear—her doubt that Gwen had the fortitude to last in Boston—she’d been hoping Gage would propose. It would be a little more insurance that she’d make it, that she wouldn’t be back.
Because once she was gone, coming back would be failure. She refused to come back. She refused to fail, especially at this, and so she must do it right the first time.
Because once she was gone, coming back would be failure. She refused to come back. She refused to fail, especially at this, and so she must do it right the first time.
She must set them up to succeed so she could be free.
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