A single mother strives to understand the enigma of a reclusive novelist in a poignant novel about belonging, secret lives, and the want to disappear by New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde.

Amelia Booker, a journalist and expert in American literature, receives a photograph leading to the possible whereabouts of E. L. Swann, an author who vanished forty years ago after the success of her first and only novel. It’s too intriguing a literary mystery for Amelia not to follow.

In Santa Rosarita, Mexico, Amelia and her seven-year-old son, Jaden, meet the elderly and guarded Ella Steinbach, known to locals for riding her donkey to market, then retreating from the world again to her hilltop house. Prickly and defensive at first, Ella reluctantly concedes the truth about her identity. If not for Ella’s deep affection for the bright and introverted Jaden, she would have found the intrusion unforgivable. Instead, she grants an interview on the condition that Amelia tell no one where E. L. Swann has been found.

As days turn into weeks, and Ella reveals more than expected about her past, she and Amelia form a difficult but surprising bond. From it comes the realization that the personal struggles we endure determine the necessary choices we make to move forward. But no matter how much Amelia tries to convince her otherwise, E. L. Swann really does wish to be left alone. And only by accepting the author as she is can Amelia maintain the life-changing connection.

<p>Catherine Ryan Hyde is the <i>New York Times</i>, <i>Wall Street Journal</i>, and #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author of nearly fifty books and counting. An avid traveler, equestrian, and amateur photographer, she shares her astrophotography with readers on her website.</p><p>Her novel <i>Pay It Forward</i> was adapted into a major motion picture, chosen by the American Library Association (ALA) for its Best Books for Young Adults list and translated into more than twenty-three languages for distribution in over thirty countries. Both <i>Becoming Chloe</i> and <i>Jumpstart the World</i> were included on the ALA’s Rainbow Book List, and <i>Jumpstart the World</i> was a finalist for two Lambda Literary Awards. <i>Where We Belong</i> won two Rainbow Awards in 2013, and <i>The Language of Hoofbeats</i> won a Rainbow Award in 2015.</p><p>More than fifty of her short stories have been published in the <i>Antioch Review</i>, <i>Michigan Quarterly Review</i>, <i>Virginia Quarterly Review</i>, <i>Ploughshares</i>, <i>Glimmer Train</i>, and many other journals; in the anthologies <i>Santa Barbara Stories</i> and <i>California Shorts</i>; and in the bestselling anthology <i>Dog Is My Co-Pilot</i>. Her stories have been honored by the Raymond Carver Short Story Contest and the Tobias Wolff Award and have been nominated for <i>The Best American Short Stories</i>, the O. Henry Award, and the Pushcart Prize. Three have been cited in the annual <i>Best American Short Stories</i> anthology.</p><p>As a professional public speaker, she has addressed the National Conference on Education, twice spoken at Cornell University, met with AmeriCorps members at the White House, and shared a dais with Bill Clinton.</p><p>For more information, visit www.catherineryanhyde.com.</p>