Inheriting Edith

A poignant breakout novel, for fans of J. Courtney Sullivan and Elin Hilderbrand, about a single mother who inherits a beautiful beach house with a caveat--she must take care of the ornery elderly woman who lives in it.

For years, Maggie Sheets has been an invisible hand in the glittering homes of wealthy New York City clients, scrubbing, dusting, mopping, and doing all she can to keep her head above water as a single mother. Everything changes when a former employer dies leaving Maggie a staggering inheritance. A house in Sag Harbor. The catch? It comes with an inhabitant: The deceased's eighty-two-year old mother Edith.

Edith has Alzheimer's--or so the doctors tell her--but she remembers exactly how her daughter Liza could light up a room, or bring dark clouds in her wake. And now Liza's gone, by her own hand, and Edith has been left--like a chaise or strand of pearls--to a poorly dressed young woman with a toddler in tow.

Maggie and Edith are both certain this arrangement will be an utter disaster. But as summer days wane, a tenuous bond forms, and Edith, who feels the urgency of her diagnosis, shares a secret that she's held close for five decades, launching Maggie on a mission that might just lead them each to what they are looking for.

Zoe Fishman is the bestselling author of Inheriting Edith, Driving Lessons, Saving Ruth and Balancing Acts. She's the recipient of myriad awards, including a NY Post Pick.

She's been profiled in Publisher's Weekly and The Huffington Post among others. Her writing has been published in The Atlanta Journal Constitution as part of their moving "Personal Journey" series.

Zoe worked in the New York publishing industry for thirteen years. She was recently the Visiting Writer at SCAD Atlanta and currently teaches at Emory Continuing Education and The Decatur Writers Studio, at which she is also the Executive Director. She lives in Decatur with her family.