The underside of joy
By: Seré Prince Halverson
Edition: Large print edition.
Publisher: Charnwood
Published: 2013
Place of publication: Leicester
Language: eng
Number of pages: 355
ISBN-13: 9781444814460
Subjects: Mother and child; Fiction; Single mothers; Divorced women; Stepchildren; Family secrets
Description: To Ella Beene, happiness means living in the northern California river town of Elbow with her husband, Joe, and his two young children. Yet one summer day Joe breaks his own rule-never turn your back on the ocean-and a sleeper wave strikes him down, drowning not only the man but his many secrets. For three years, Ella has been the only mother the kids have known and has believed that their biological mother, Paige, abandoned them. But when Paige shows up at the funeral, intent on reclaiming the children, Ella soon realizes there may be more to Paige and Joe's story. "Ella's the best thing that's happened to this family, " say her close-knit Italian-American in-laws, for generations the proprietors of a local market. But their devotion quickly falters when the custody fight between mother and stepmother urgently and powerfully collides with Ella's quest for truth ...
Notes: Complete and unabridged.

Standard print edition originally published: New York: Dutton; London: Harper, 2012.

"What if the only way to keep your children is to let them go?"--Cover.

Up until now, Ella has counted herself as one of the luckiest women alive: she has a wonderful husband, two animated kids and an extended family who regard her as one of their own. Then the unthinkable happens and her soul mate, Joe, is killed in a tragic accident. She now clings to her children more than ever. But when Joe's ex-wife Paige, 'natural' mother to Annie and Zach, arrives at the funeral, Ella fears the worst. Pushed to the limits of love, Ella must decide who is, after all, the best mother for HER children.

Adult.