Nearing 30 and trying to avoid the inescapable fact that they have failed to live up to everyone's expectations and their own aspirations, cousins and childhood best friends Lizzie, Elyse and Isobel seek respite in an oddly-shaped, three-story house. As they work to restore the almost-condemned house, each woman faces uncomfortable truths about her own failings.

A clever, plainspoken heiress whose money gives her a choice among suitors, Charlotte Baird falls in love with Captain Bay Middleton, the first man to really notice her. When Empress Elizabeth of Austria joins the legendary hunt organized by Earl Spencer in England, Bay is asked to guide her on the treacherous course. Their shared passion for riding leads to an infatuation that jeopardizes the growing bond between Bay and Charlotte, and threatens all of their futures.

Justin Bailey is 17 when he arrives at the shop of legendary muscle car mechanic Nick Campbell. Anguished and out of place among the students at his rural Connecticut high school, Justin finds in Nick, his captivating wife Mary Ann, and their world of miraculous machines the sense of family he has struggled to find at home. But when Nick and Mary Ann’s lives are struck by tragedy, Justin’s own world is upended.

Eve and Teddy Morrison are Savannah’s power couple, but things aren’t as good as they look. Their teenage daughter, Gwen, is rebelling, and Cooper is blaming this on Eve’s preoccupation with work. The Morrison marriage is taut with tension, but when Cooper is involved in a car accident with Eve’s sister, Willa, the questions surrounding the event bring the family close to breaking point. Sifting between the stories, Eve has to find out what really happened --- and just who she believes.

Allison Weiss frets about the truth of her seemingly happy life: that her husband is becoming distant, that her daughter is acting out, that her father’s early Alzheimer’s is worsening and her mother is barely managing to cope. She tells herself that the pills she’s taking let her make it through her days. But what if her ever-increasing drug use, a habit that’s becoming expensive and hard to hide, is turning into her biggest problem of all?

Clendenin Hughes is the boy who took Dabney Kimball Beech’s heart with him long ago when he left Nantucket to pursue his dream of becoming a journalist. Now, after spending 27 years on the other side of the world, Clen is back on the island, and Dabney has never felt so confused or so alive. But when tragedy threatens her own second chance, Dabney must face the choices she's made and share painful secrets with her family.

While Daisy Shoemaker tries to identify the root of her recent dissatisfaction --- maybe her distant husband, "handful" of a daughter or thriving but still trivial-feeling cooking business --- she’s also receiving misdirected emails meant for a woman named Diana Starling. While Daisy’s driving carpools, Diana is chairing meetings. While Daisy’s making dinner, Diana’s making plans to reorganize corporations. When an apology leads to an invitation, the two women meet and become friends. But, as they get closer, we learn that their connection was not completely accidental, and perhaps the slight punctuation mishap that kickstarted the emails wasn't a mistake after all. Who IS this other woman, and what does she want with Daisy?

When John Blessing dies and leaves behind two small children, the loss reverberates across his extended family for years to come. His young widow, Lauren, finds solace in her large clan of in-laws, while his brother's wife Kate pursues motherhood even at the expense of her marriage. Through departures and arrivals, weddings and reunions, THE BLESSINGS reveals the interior worlds of the members of a close-knit Irish-Catholic family and the rituals that unite them.

At the center of Elizabeth McCracken's stories is often a jagged space left by loss: a neighborhood is haunted by a child's ghost, a library staff grapples with the mystery of a patron's death, a corner store manager obsesses over a missing woman, a son absconds forever with his parents' savings. But equally present in this new story collection --- McCracken's first in 20 years --- are passion, charm, humor and joy.

Allie Crawford has the life she always dreamed of. But when she finds her husband locked in their laundry room with a stunning blonde, a scandal ensues that flips her life on its head. And when the woman wants to befriend Allie, an old flame calls, and a new guy gets a little too close for comfort, she starts to think her marriage is more of a facade than something real. Maybe she's fallen in love not with Wade, but with the idea of him.