The Half Wives
Author(s): Stacia Pelletier

Over the course of one momentous day, two women who have built their lives around the same man find themselves moving toward an inevitable reckoning.

Former Lutheran minister Henry Plageman is a master secret keeper and a man wracked by grief. He and his wife, Marilyn, tragically lost their young son, Jack, many years ago. But he now has another childa daughter, eight-year-old Bluewith Lucy, the woman he fell in love with after his marriage collapsed.

The Half Wives follows these interconnected characters on May 22, 1897, the anniversary of Jacks birth. Marilyn distracts herself with charity work at an orphanage. Henry needs to wrangle his way out of the police station, where he has spent the night for disorderly conduct. Lucy must rescue and rein in the intrepid Blue, who has fallen in a saltwater well. But before long, these four will all be drawn on this day to the same destination: to the city cemetery on the outskirts of San Francisco, to the grave that means so much to all of them. The collision of lives and secrets that follows will leave no one unaltered.

Review(s):
“[A] finely tuned novel about grief, interpersonal connections, and the long journey toward independence…The novel moves smoothly… between present-day events and peoples memories about their moments of happiness and heartache. Pelletier provides poignant insight into the odd dependent relationship between Lucy and Marilyn that directs their lives, even though theyve never met, and Marilyn doesnt know of Lucys existence.”Reading the Past “Pelletier sketches [her]characters in great detail to create a moving story of hope and loss.”Booklist Online “Pelletiers writing is moving and enthralling and conveys the conflict at the heart of the book… [she]keeps readers hooked right up to the books satisfying conclusion.”Publishers Weekly “Pelletier’s second novel unfolds a complex story in the span of 24 hours… [The author]expertly fills in the back storyintrospection and memories mingle smoothly with the present…Well-crafted characters struggling alone with shared grief furnishes a coursing river on which this intriguing story effortlessly flows. Tough to put down.”Kirkus Reviews “Aa thought-provoking read.”West Metro Mommy Reads The Half Wives is a profoundly hypnotic and mesmerizing work. The characters do not capture you as much as claim you, as the writinglanguid, heartbreaking, and hopefulpulls you deep into their world. The backdrop of Old San Francisco comes gloriously alive, as though the mist of the city itself rose from every page.Kathy Hepinstall, author of Blue Asylum and others Stacia Pelletiers The Half Wives is set in the past, but it is a story for any time: a poignant, sometimes heart-rending, beautifully crafted, always gripping tale of loss and love, and the human need to try to set things right. A great read.Kevin Baker, author of The Big Crowd

ISBN:9780547491165