"Lydia is dead. But they don't know this yet. So begins the story of this exquisite debut novel, about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee; their middle daughter, a girl who inherited her mother's bright blue eyes and her father's jet-black hair. Her parents are determined that Lydia will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue-in Marilyn's case that her daughter become...

Where is hope when Eleanor Lapp's life starts to fall apart as extreme grief drives her husband to drink to numb his pain? Life is good on the Pennsylvania Amish farm of newlyweds Vic and Eleanor Lapp-- until a tragic event occurs. Vic turns to alcohol to numb the pain; he loses his job, and his marriage is falling apart. Eleanor writes to her friend, Doretta, in Indiana, asking for advice. Their exchange of letters helps both women through the challenges...