a. samson

Lark Summerville's life has few surprises-and that's just how she likes it. All she wants is to live out her angst-riddled life in her blue-collar Baltimore neighborhood, punctuated by weekly trips to her local parish, where Lark is organist, and telephone conversations with desperate souls who dial her hotline at 1-777-IPRAY4U.

Then one night, Lark's home is destroyed by a fire, forcing her out of her comfortable nest and back to the childhood home she has avoided for years. At Stoneleigh House, Lark is surrounded by three very different women: her grown daughter, Flannery; her barely tolerable socialite mother, Leslie; and Prisma Percy, housekeeper and family confidante, all of whom believe Lark was widowed years before.

In this circle of women, Lark's carefully constructed existence begins to unravel, even as the promise of a new one unfolds. But when her contrite ex-husband shows up, longing to assume his role as Flannery's father, twenty years after his desertion, Lark finds that she must face her own lies-and her past-before a new life can unfold.

Lisa Samson is the author of a dozen novels, including three series and two stand-alone novels. Her latest novel, The Church Ladies, marked a change of direction for Lisa’s writing and received critical acclaim. Lisa is a full-time wife and mother of three. She is the worship leader at her local church and volunteers as a creative writing instructor at Redeemer Christian Classical School. She and her family make their home in Maryland.