Missing Pictures - Paperback

$28.04

Availability: 50 left in stock

by Angela Hoke (Author)

From the 4-time award-winning author of A Whisper of Smoke comes the story of Claire Colson, a successful businesswoman who, after a painful divorce from a long-term marriage, tries to heal from depression by re-entering the dating world, but only on the days she doesn't have her daughter and manages to put on deodorant. But it's not until she meets Tasha and Gretchen, two women carrying their own heavy baggage who show her how to embrace the crazy and find the laughter in it, that she begins to find true healing. And if she's lucky, she may just discover the beauty of an unexpected life.

After surviving a painful divorce, normally fierce businesswoman Claire Colson is suffering from clinical depression and possibly failing as a mother. Determined to reclaim her life, she takes a leave from work to voluntarily attend group therapy at the psych hospital. There she meets Tasha and Gretchen, two single moms from very different walks of life with their own brands of mental illness. Claire immediately finds comfort in their unconditional acceptance and unfailing humor.

Work is out of the question while her brain is on hiatus, but her body is rocking thanks to the highly effective if inadvisable divorce diet. So, with her new friends' encouragement, Claire enters the Nashville dating scene, hoping it helps her heal. But it's not as easy as she expects - the selection includes middle-age rejects, young guys suffering from beer fog, or judgmental men that remind her how far she's fallen. At the same time, Tasha and Gretchen teach Claire what it is to live with mental illness, including that Group isn't the end. It's only the beginning. And Claire can't analyze her way out of it.

Unfortunately, time and her disability insurance are running out - if Claire can't get to a better place, she could lose her career and may never be healthy enough for a lasting relationship. Even worse, she could be putting her custody arrangement at risk. Nothing in her life is what it once was, but with her unlikely friends by her side, Claire may just find a path to a future worth living, even if it may not look like the life she lost.

A female friendship love story that "explores the gritty realities of living with mental illness with sharply dark humor and an interminable optimism, culminating in an unforgettable story that will either leave you with an empathy you didn't expect, or feeling understood like never before."

"A raw, emotional foray into the harrowing and yet hilarious capriciousness of mental illness... a novel that can meet you at your darkest moment and give you the power to decide to save your own life." Reedsy Editor

Trigger Warning: References to sexual assault (not explicit), depiction of suicidal ideations and delusional psychosis.

Number of Pages: 296

Dimensions: 0.67 x 9 x 6 IN

Publication Date: June 08, 2021