Leaving Lucy Pear: A Novel

Leaving Lucy Pear: A Novel

<b><b>“From the first page, I was under Anna Solomon’s spell.<b>” <b>—Sue Monk Kidd</b></b></b><br /><br />Chosen as a must-read book by <i>TIME</i> Magazine, <i>InStyle</i>, <i>Good Housekeeping</i>, <i>The Millions</i>, <b>the <i>Minneapolis Star Tribune</i>, and <i>BookPage</i></b></b><br /><br /><b><i>Set in 1920s New England, the story of two women who are both mothers to the same unforgettable girl—a big, heartrending novel from award-winning writer Anna Solomon</i></b><br /><br />One night in 1917 Beatrice Haven sneaks out of her uncle's house on Cape Ann, Massachusetts, leaves her newborn baby at the foot of a pear tree, and watches as another woman claims the infant as her own. The unwed daughter of wealthy Jewish industrialists and a gifted pianist bound for Radcliffe, Bea plans to leave her shameful secret behind and make a fresh start. Ten years later, Prohibition is in full swing, post-WWI America is in the grips of rampant xenophobia, and Bea's hopes for her future remain unfulfilled. She returns to her uncle’s house, seeking a refuge from her unhappiness. But she discovers far more when the rum-running manager of the local quarry inadvertently reunites her with Emma Murphy, the headstrong Irish Catholic woman who has been raising Bea's abandoned child—now a bright, bold, cross-dressing girl named Lucy Pear, with secrets of her own.<br /><br />In mesmerizing prose, award-winning author Anna Solomon weaves together an unforgettable group of characters as their lives collide on the New England coast. Set against one of America's most turbulent decades, <i>Leaving Lucy Pear</i> delves into questions of class, freedom, and the meaning of family, establishing Anna Solomon as one of our most captivating storytellers.<br /><br /><b>“Anna Solomon writes with a poet’s reverence for language and a novelist's ability to keep us turning the page. A gorgeous and engrossing meditation on motherhood, womanhood, and the sacrifices we make for love.” —J. Courtney Sullivan</b>