Left: A Novel
Therese Wolley takes her two children, Franny and Matilda, and runs to her best friend, troubled artist Leah.  Franny is open to taking in their strange new house, but in the morning, Therese and Matilda are gone.  As Franny adjusts to life with Leah, Matilda is hatching a plan to reunite with her sister, even if it means finding the father she doesn’t remember with the help of the bad boy next door.  Meanwhile, Therese is reliving the “sparks” she felt around her ex and her mother-in-law, the ominously named Barbara Yaga.  The three Wolley women narrate the story, and each voice is as distinct as it is biased.  Franny perceives the world through the lens of her autism and her youth.  Matilda is plagued by strange dreams that color her daily life.  Therese is ruled by her sense of touch, stubbornly relying on her impressions rather than reality, no matter how often she gets it wrong (although she doesn’t always). This compact first novel is sometimes frustratingly short on details, but readers can be assured that it all makes sense in the end. --Susan Maguire