Phaedra Patrick

"Sixty-nine-year-old Arthur Pepper lives a simple life. He gets out of bed at precisely 7:30 a.m., just as he did when his wife, Miriam, was alive. He dresses in the same gray slacks and mustard sweater-vest, waters his fern, Frederica, and heads out to his garden. But on the one-year anniversary of Miriam's death, something changes. Sorting through Miriam's possessions, Arthur finds an exquisite gold charm bracelet he's never seen before. What follows...

His fifteenth wedding anniversary to Estelle is on the horizon, but his marriage is breaking down. In trying to have a child for many years, Benedict and Estelle have focused on nothing else. They've forgotten how to relate as a couple in their own right. When Estelle moves out of their home, after Benedict's reluctance to accept their childless fate, he is devastated. Benedict vows to win Estelle back - but he doesn't know how. One rainy night, after...

Librarian Martha Storm has always found it easier to connect with books than people--though not for lack of trying. She keeps careful lists of how to help others in her superhero-themed notebook. And yet, sometimes it feels like she's invisible. All of that changes when a book of fairy tales arrives on her doorstep. Inside, Martha finds a dedication written to her by her best friend--her grandmother Zelda--who died under mysterious circumstances years...