Wait

The night before her college graduation, Elise's world is turned upside down by a single phone call. Her mother is missing, and her younger sister Sophie is back on Nantucket Island desperately trying to find her. Before long, Elise and Sophie learn the truth; Gilda has been deported back to São Paulo, Brazil, and in an instant, the sisters' world becomes picking up the pieces of their former one.

"Wait" is a simply gorgeous coming-of-age novel. Set against the backdrop of Nantucket, it follows Elise and Sophie as they struggle to form a life stateside without their mother while also desperately trying to find a way to bring her back. As the distance settles in and time carries on, various characters drift into the sisters' lives, and at center stage is Sheba, Elise's glamorous and equally-melodramatic college friend whose inherited seaside mansion is the sisters' only hope for lodging on Nantucket. With present-day POVs that drift back and forth from Gilda's life back in Brazil to Elise and Sophie in Nantucket, "Wait" spins seemingly mundane scenes of daily life that shimmer with a profound poignancy.

When life as you know it shatters, what does picking up the pieces look like?

While "Wait" may not satisfy readers looking for a lively, quick-paced novel, I loved its simplicity and its compelling commentary on sisterhood, in all its forms. With present-tense narration and no quotations throughout, it does require a bit of focus to settle into, but once you're there, it's a beautiful ride. Certainly one of my more memorable reads of the year thus far.