Jean Harley Was Here

by Heather Taylor Johnson

Genres: General Fiction; Family Life; Literary Fiction; Women's Fiction

Synopsis

“Sure to be popular among fans of Liane Moriarty and Sarah Pekkanen, this tender, witty novel dives into the life of an amazing woman by exploring the grief of those she’s left behind."— Booklist Jean Harley—wife, mother, lover, dancer—is a shining light in the lives of those who know and love her, full of boundless energy, compassion, and joy. When she's hit by a truck while riding her bicycle and the unthinkable happens, what becomes of the people she leaves behind? Her devoted husband, Stan, is now a single father to their four-year-old son, Orion, who doesn't understand why his mom won't come home. Jean's two best friends, Neddy and Viv, find their relationship unraveling without their third companion. Charley, the ex-con who caused the accident, struggles to reconcile his feelings of elation when the charges against him are dropped with his boundless guilt over knowing he has changed a family forever; while Jean's mother, Pearl, will regret the little girl who left. Gradually, life without Jean goes on, yet her indelible spirit remains. Told from the alternating perspectives of these and other characters who grieve the same death in vastly different ways, Jean Harley Was Here is a moving, poetic novel about loss, memory, and the lives we touch.

Release date: October 2, 2018

Publisher: Arcade

Print pages: 256