Kirjahaku

FROM THE BESTSELLING, CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED AUTHOR OF THERE'S MORE THAN ONE WAY HOME COMES A ROMANTIC COMEDY SET IN 21ST CENTURY SAN FRANCISCO, WHERE DIFFERENCES ARE CELEBRATED AND EVERYONE FITS IN ... EXCEPT WHEN THEY DON'T. Anna Kagen had her heart broken five years ago--so badly that she can't imagine ever having another man in her life. Her ex-husband, Alex, would like her to stay single: that would ensure that he has control of their children, Jack, a 16-year-old on the autism spectrum, and five-year-old Marissa, whose "giftedness" might be wishful thinking on his part, since he needs someone to achieve his own unfulfilled ambitions.As for Jack, he's ready to open his heart: to the lissome redhead and high school queen bee, Ashleigh. And she's taking an interest in him When Anna reconnects with Jason, a man from her past who was once kind to her and who has a special needs son of his own, they seem destined to become a new family. But not if their ex-spouses have anything to say about it....

Levin shows beginning as well as experienced novelists what makes the juiciest conflicts, how to use point of view, and how to get to know the characters. Levin also divdes topics into "The Basics" and "The Finer Points", offering writers two levels of instruction.

"The situation: real women with real and painful problems. The solution: have friends. Also, magic. The result: A thoroughly engaging, completely entertaining novel by the great Donna Levin."--Karen Joy Fowler, PEN/Faulkner award winner, Man Booker award nominee, and New York Times bestselling author of The Jane Austen Book Club Four women find humor, truth, romance, and a better path forward by deconstructing memory and emotion--and expose a wannabe cult leader along the way. Hunter is lost. Her husband left her for Angelica, her former best friend whose new hit memoir is spreading unsavory lies about Hunter. She's unemployed with no prospects, and the San Francisco flea market she's wandering on a weekday is so foggy that she literally doesn't know where she is. It's only after a helpful visit and a gift from a stranger who appears from the mist that Hunter finds her resolve. She begins a support group for women looking for new beginnings--only to have Angelica start one, too. In the next room over. One that feels very cult-y. The Talking Stick is the adventure of Hunter and the three women who join her reclamation journey. Together, they reexamine their pasts, explore their grief, addictions, parenting, and marriages, and discover that some of their most-cherished memories are romanticized versions of the truth. Meanwhile, they unearth other memories--memories that challenge how they've been living for years. And, with the help of a lawyer who prefers life on a houseboat to the pretensions of the city, Hunter unravels Angelica's scheme. The Talking Stick is a fast-paced dramedy set in the Bay Area, told with the characteristic humor of Donna Levin, an author whom Kirkus called "A witty, modern voice" and the Los Angeles Times deemed "a novelist to keep high on your reading list."