From the author of Things to See in Arizona, Starling, and The Qualities of Wood, an innovative, touching, and unforgettable novel-in-moments that invites readers to choose a reading approach.
At a party thrown by his wife's PTA friend, Glen Hanley makes a reckless choice. Terri Moore's life has finally settled after an unexpected divorce, when her son reveals stunning news. Elderly and alone, Mrs. Hallowicz finds solace in her flowerbeds and pet turtle, but the pain of a long-buried tragedy threatens to unhinge her. On the shaky ground of California, foundations can suddenly shift.
Bellflower is a kaleidoscopic novel-in-moments spanning the lifetimes of these three characters and the network of family and friends connecting them, an unforgettable story about the mysteries of fate and chance, the delicate balance of relationships, and the resilient human spirit that keeps us striving to complete our own stories, in our own way.
"These layered stories are filled with a yearning to uncover where the characters have been, and with an openhearted longing, accept all that is still to come. A small gem of a novel, each vignette comes as a surprise, and each is a testament to how, just like in life, everything is woven and fused and pulling toward the other." Deborah Reed, author of Things We Set on Fire
"I was intrigued by the overlapping stories of Bellflower, and yet found I was compelled to read them in order; that is, I read all the Hanley chapters first, then Moore, then Hallowicz. I was given the option to stay with the characters and so I did. Each scene is vivid and well-wrought; I will think about these characters for a long time." Jessica Francis Kane, author of Rules for Visiting
"These are the defining moments of the characters' lives: the cancer scare, the mid-life crisis affair, the paternity test results that seem like the end of the world. Bellflower tells these stories about the human condition and reminds us that, in the end, we're all connected." Katie O' Rourke, author of Blood & Water
"Mary Vensel White has written a novel that captures the quiet poetry and repressed anguish of family life, much in the way Anne Tyler or Richard Yates can do, but with an experimental format that proves to be true to the nature of how memory works. A remarkable feat." Scott Pack, author of Weightless Fireworks
