{"product_id":"entering-normal-9780345445735","title":"Entering Normal","description":"In the tradition of \u003ci\u003eThe Good Mother \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Deep End of the Ocean\u003c\/i\u003e, Anne D. LeClaire delivers a heartbreaking-and breathtaking-novel of two very different but equally loving mothers who face the most painful of losses and then find the courage not only to go on but to find meaning and hope in their lives. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eRose Nelson is a middle-aged woman with a broken past, a sorrow from which she cannot recover. Secretly guilty about her role in her teenaged son's death five years ago, she has sealed herself off from life, enveloped by a grief that has slowly eaten away at her relationship with her husband. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAgainst her will, Rose is drawn into the world she has avoided when Opal Gates and her five-year-old son, Zack, move in next door. Determined to start an independent life for herself, twenty-year-old Opal has left her family and the father of her son in North Carolina. But when she quickly begins an affair with Tyrone Miller, a part-time mechanic and local musician, Opal unwittingly breaks the tacit rules of both her family and her new hometown. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eInitially, Rose cannot bear the sight of Opal and her son. But later when Zack is injured, she instinctively lies to protect Opal from a single mistake that changes the lives of everyone involved. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFaced with a custody suit brought by Zack's father and her own parents, Opal faces a trial in which each choice she has made will be used as ammunition in the battle to take Zack away from her. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eConfronting such devastating loss and the questions it poses are at the heart of \u003ci\u003eEntering Normal\u003c\/i\u003e. How does one go on after great tragedy? What is a family? What sacrifices must a mother be willing to make for her child? And how can a good mother sometimes make bad choices? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eEntering Normal\u003c\/i\u003e is a story of family, a novel about courage, loss, risk, and betrayal. It is a story that goes to the heart of love.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAnne D. LeClaire\u003c\/b\u003e is a novelist and short story writer who teaches and lectures on writing and the creative process. She has also worked as a radio broadcaster, a journalist, an op-ed columnist for \u003ci\u003eThe Cape Cod Times\u003c\/i\u003e, and a correspondent for \u003ci\u003eThe Boston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e. Her work has appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eRedbook\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eYankee\u003c\/i\u003e magazine among others. She is the mother of two adult children and lives in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Ballantine Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51749422235922,"sku":"9780345445735","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_a8c62d06-b920-47de-9a97-37a35fadac39.jpg?v=1764084477","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/entering-normal-9780345445735","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}