num_pages: 304
description: Through the richly intertwined narratives of two women from different generations Ashley Hay known for her elegant prose which draws warm and textured portraits as it celebrates the web of human stories ( New York Times Book Review ) weaves an intricate bighearted tale of the many small decisionsthe invisible momentsthat come to make a life.Readers who loved the quiet introspection of Anita Shreves The Pilots Wife and Elizabeth Strouts Olive Kitteridge will enjoy the detailed emotional journeys of Hays characters. Their stories will linger long after the final page is turned ( Library Journal ).When Elsie Gormley falls and is forced to leave her Brisbane home of sixty-two years Lucy Kiss and her family move in eager to make the house their own. Still Lucy cant help but feel that shes unwittingly stumbled into an entirely new lifenew house new city new babyand she struggles to navigate the journey from adventurous lover to young parent.In her nearby nursing facility Elsie traces the years she spent in her beloved house where she too transformed from a nave newlywed into a wife and mother and eventually a widow. Gradually the boundary between present and past becomes more porous for her and for Lucybecause the house has secrets of its own and its rooms seem to share with Lucy memories from Elsies life.Luminous and deeply affecting A Hundred Small Lessons is a lyrically written portrayal ( BookPage  Top Pick) of what it means to be human and how a place can transform who we are. Its about a house that becomes much more than a home and the shifting identities of mother and daughter; father and son. Above all else this is a story of the surprising and miraculous ways that our lives intersect with those who have come before us and those who follow.
language: English
title: A Hundred Small Lessons
publisher: Washington Square Press