By Stephanie Gertler
E.P. Dutton
Hardcover and Paperback Editions

Abandoned by her mother, psychologist Claire Bishop is again feeling the pain of abandonment. Her two children are now adults. Her son is beginning his career and her daughter is starting college. It is just Claire and her husband, Eli.

There is time to think, to reminisce. And for Claire, those memories still bear the pain of an open wound.

Drifting Excerpt Maybe, but you never mentioned your mother before. Well, maybe once but that was ages ago." Claire's eyes filled with tears. "It's probably good for the soul. Ironic though, isn't it? My kids are at college. I have a husband who loves me. And the best girlfriend in the world." She dropped her voice. "And here I am forty-four years too late feeling like an abandoned child. It's like all of a sudden I feel as though someone cut off my arm. Little late, don't you think?" ©2003 Stephanie Gertler Published with permission from E.P. Dutton

Claire revisits her past. She thinks of Jack, her father, who raised her alone. And Sulie, her too-young mother who left before Claire was two years old. Claire remembers all the events right up to marrying Eli and moving to Drifting, Connecticut, where they ended up buying an inn and raising their family.

Nick Pierce and his seven year old, blind daughter, Kayla, arrive as guests at the inn. Claire, who is generally insightful about people, finds her feelings confused as she compares Nick and Kayla to her and Jack.

All the years of Jack trying to be both mother and father have come together and appear in the form of Nick and Kayla. Good judgment has been exchanged for confusion as she sees Jack in Nick and can see nothing else.

Join Claire on her search for a reconciliation with her past, her mother and the truth about Nick and Kayla.

Bookworm's Briefing
Drifting is an unexpected read with the drama veering in surprising directions. It is as much about finding a missing parent as it is about a woman finding herself.

Stephanie Gertler is also the author of Jimmy's Girl and The Puzzle Bark Tree. She lives and writes in New York with her husband, three children and five dogs.