Harper Academic

A Question Mark Is Half a Heart

A Novel

by Sofia Lundberg, Nicola Smalley

On Sale: 07/19/2022

Price: $16.99

A Question Mark Is Half a Heart

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A Question Mark Is Half a Heart

A Novel

by Sofia Lundberg, Nicola Smalley

On Sale: 07/19/2022

Format:

Price: $16.99

About the Book

How deeply can you love when your heart is full of secrets? A sweeping, propulsive family story about a woman learning to love, from the bustle of New York’s fashion scene to a remote, windswept Swedish island, by the acclaimed author of The Red Address Book—“a love letter to the human heart” (Alyson Richman).

By age fifty, Elin Boals has created a perfect life for herself: her wildly successful business as Manhattan’s preeminent fashion photographer is flourishing. Her handsome, patient husband is devoted to her; her teenaged daughter, Alice, has been accepted to the ballet academy of her dreams. But then Elin receives an innocuous-looking envelope. Folded inside is a star chart, with an address written by a familiar hand.

Shaken, Elin begins to have startling flashbacks to a life very different from the childhood in a Paris bookstore that she has so lovingly recounted to Alice. In these memories, a poverty-stricken little girl cares for her two ragged baby brothers, laughing with her family on the good days, sheltering them from her mother’s sadness and her father’s wrath on the bad days. Elin also remembers vivid walks with a young classmate, Fredrik, whose steadfast friendship and starlit confidences shaped her young life.

As Elin becomes consumed by these memories, her New York life begins to crumble dramatically. Finally, her family’s troubling questions drive her to face, at last, the brutal secret from her past.

At once a heartwarming family story and a page-turning mystery, A Question Mark Is Half a Heart traces a surprising journey across continents to reconciliation, and toward finding a true sense of home.

Critical Praise

"A warmhearted portrayal of family and forgiveness." — Kirkus Reviews

"Readers will soak up the suspense as they search for the truth alongside Elin up until the end." — Publishers Weekly

"Elin is a complex character with a compelling story, and Lundberg avoids the obvious resolutions that readers may expect in favor of a deeper exploration of the meaning of love, forgiveness, and family. This satisfying novel will appeal to fans of Lisa Duffy and Patti Callahan Henry." — Booklist

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Product Details

  • ISBN: 9780358697374
  • ISBN 10: 0358697379
  • Imprint: Harper Perennial
  • On Sale: 07/19/2022
  • Trimsize: 5.310 in (w) x 8.000 in (h) x 0.720 in (d)
  • Pages: 320
  • List Price: $16.99
  • BISAC1 : FICTION / Romance / Contemporary
  • BISAC2 : FICTION / Contemporary Women
  • BISAC3 : FICTION / Cultural Heritage
  • BISAC4 : FICTION / Romance / Clean & Wholesome