Honey

The award-winning author of Matilda Savitch and Edgar and Lucy introduces an unforgettable woman as tenacious as Elizabeth Strout's Oliver Kitteridge and as irresistible as Andrew Sean Greer's Arthur Less in this brilliant, poignant literary breakout about a glamorous octogenarian--the daughter of a notorious New Jersey mobster--who returns to the home she'd long ago rejected, a world very different from the one she left behind.

Though she's already led a wonderful life in Los Angeles for more than half a century, Honey Fasinga's days continue to get better and better. A spry 82, she's blessed with robust health and a girlish figure and enjoys good wine, fine clothes, financial security, romance, and well-protected peace. Long ago she broken ties with her New Jersey mobster family and moved west. Now it's time to go home, make her peace, and come to terms with the tragedies of her past--even though she still remembers where all the bodies are buried.

But Honey's best intentions frizzle when her lover suddenly dies, her great-nephew Michael bursts into her life in what appears to be a drug-fueled frenzy, and her Lexus gets jacked. Why has Michael's mysteriously appeared--only to disappear even more suddenly? Honey is curious to find the answer--in between navigating the awkward social labyrinths of funerals for old friends and enemies. Complicating matters, her overly friendly young neighbor seems to have gotten herself involved with an unsavory character who promises nothing but trouble.

In the twilight of her life, Honey thought she was done with the world. Maybe, though, it still needs her to teach it some lessons about goodness, self-respect, and grace under pressure. An ardent exploration of love in all its forms and at any age, Honey is a funny, charming novel that will break your heart and piece it back together again.