Skip to main content
Inheriting Edith: A Novel

Inheriting Edith: A Novel

Current price: $15.99
Publication Date: October 18th, 2016
Publisher:
William Morrow Paperbacks
ISBN:
9780062378743
Pages:
320
Usually Ships in 1 to 5 Days

It's a familiar cast of characters: a single mom raising a spunky kid; an older woman descending into Alzheimer's; the inhabitants of a small town; a nice eligible man. And then comes the twist: the single mom and the older woman aren't related by blood, but connected through the older woman's now deceased daughter. With humor and heart, long-held secrets come to light and special bonds are formed. Inheriting Edith is both entertaining and poignant.

Jenny Stroyeck (W), The Homer Bookstore, Homer, AK
November 2016 Indie Next List

Description

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.

About the Author

Zoe Fishman is the 2020 Georgia Author of the Year. She is the bestselling author of five previous novels and several awards including Booklist’s “Top 10 Books of the Year” and an IndieNext Pick. 

She’s been featured on “City Lights” with Lois Reitzes, and in Publisher’s Weekly and The Atlanta Jewish Times among others. Her essays have been published in The New York Times, The Atlanta Journal Constitution and Modern Loss.  

Zoe was the Director of The Decatur Writers Studio and a visiting writer at SCAD Atlanta. She lives in Decatur with her two sons.

Praise for Inheriting Edith: A Novel

“Zoe Fishman’s INHERITING EDITH is a tragicomic delight, pairing single mother and professional house cleaner Maggie with prickly, resentful, 82-year-old Edith, thrown together in a Sag Harbor beach house after Edith’s famous author daughter Liza takes her own life--and bequeaths the house and her mother to Maggie, her former friend and employee. Fishman deftly explores the intricate territory of mother-daughter relationships as well as the haunting specter of an Alzheimer’s diagnosis for famously independent Edith. Throw in winsome toddler Lucy, the hilarious meddling of best friend/yenta Esther, and an intriguing potential suitor in the form of a local toy store owner, and you have a delicious literary chicken soup for the soul.” — Mary Kay Andrews, New York Times bestselling author of THE WEEKENDERS

“A beautifully crafted story about second chances and life’s big surprises. Warm spirited and emotionally rich, INHERITING EDITH celebrates the fine line between friendship and family. These characters will tug at your heart.” — Jamie Brenner, author of The Wedding Sisters

“A heartbreaking story about life, love, and friendship that you’ll want to devour in one sitting.” — Erin Duffy, author of BOND GIRL and LOST ALONG THE WAY