DEBUT Lila Bruce Breedlove's tranquil life in Maine is upended when she learns of the death of her elderly, domineering mother, Geneva. She embarks reluctantly on a return trip to Wesleyan, GA, the small town where she grew up. When she arrives, Lila reunites with the brother she is close to, Henry, and the sister with whom she is not close, Abigail. Lila and Henry had left their small town behind, but Abigail stayed in Wesleyan, taking care of Geneva. Proving to be as chaotic and uncomfortable as expected, Lila's visit goes completely off the rails when, due to the mysterious circumstances of Geneva's death, her mother's lifelong secret is discovered. This leads Lila and Henry on a bittersweet journey to the Scottish Highlands to lift the final veil of the deception they have been living under the majority of their lives. VERDICT Filled with vivid landscape descriptions, Southern charm, and heartfelt familial connections, this novel is sure to please readers, especially fans of Southern women's fiction and family dramas like the works of Mary Kay Andrews and Kristin Hannah.--Karen Core, Detroit P.L.

Terry's debut begins when Lila Breedlove gets a call from her sister, Abby, who tells her that their mother has died. Immediately Lila and her brother, Henry, fly back to their southern hometown of Wesleyan, Georgia. There they learn that their mother didn't want a funeral and so kept her heart condition a secret. Then Abby has a breakdown and goes in search of the long-lost love that her mother never approved of, while Lila and her childhood friend Melanie, along with Henry and his partner, Andrew, are left behind to unearth family secrets. They search the muscadine arbor where Lila's mother's body was found and discover a box of old letters, including one from their deceased father; curiously this letter is dated after he died. In the letter, he talks about Abby not being his child and expresses his love for his best friend, Charlie, Melanie's father. More letters just complicate the secrets their mother kept, and the group goes in search of answers. This tale of forbidden love, family, and lies will have readers on the edge of their seats until the very end.

Terry debuts with a spellbinding account of long-buried secrets coming to light in the wake of a matriarch's death. Lila Bruce Breedlove, the eldest of the three Bruce children, has long been avoiding her hometown of Wesleyan, Ga., since moving to Rhode Island for college, marrying a former professor, and settling down in Maine. She's the only one of her siblings old enough to remember life before her father was killed in Vietnam, a tragedy that brought a veil of silence and distance over their family. But after her mother dies of a heart attack, Lila returns home. While Lila and her younger brother, Henry, left home after high school, Abigail, the youngest and their mother's favorite, has remained in Wesleyan and continues the traditions of her childhood. As surprises pile up, the siblings begin unraveling their mother's secrets, including the truth about what happened to their father. With stirring prose ("Truth, like beauty, reveals itself as you notice it; the more you see, the more you see") and strong characters, Terry captures the complexities of memory and the difficulties of going home. Fans of Kristin Harmel will want to take a look. (Mar.)