For Las Vegas widow Naomi, memories of a Pennsylvania Dutch childhood are an ache from the distant past, a painful memory of abandoned roots and lost connections. She has long since reconciled herself to the shattered dreams that had enticed her from her heritage and now simply lives in a tiny apartment, thick with loneliness and regret. Her sole consolation is her daughter-in-law Ruth. But when hard living claims both of her boys, the two women turn...

"A twisty, compelling new novel about one woman's complicated relationship with her mother-in-law that ends in death... From the moment Lucy met her husband's mother, Diana, she was kept at arm's length. Diana was exquisitely polite, and properly friendly, but Lucy knew that she was not what Diana envisioned. But who could fault Diana? She was a pillar of the community, an advocate for social justice who helped female refugees assimilate to their...

Hoping to leave his past behind while moving on with his new bride, conflicted former hit man Peter Macklin struggles with his new life's lack of privacy and his mother-in-law's boyfriend, who moonlights as a spotter for a robber gang.

Living with her son, Mahlon, and daughter-in-law, Ruth, since the death of her husband, Naomi faces a new tragedy when Mahlon is killed in an accident, sending Naomi and Ruth on a painful journey of reconciliation and forgiveness.

In this version of the classic story, Ma Sally of Charleston County, South Carolina, devises a contest for her son's admirers: cook up a dish of black-eyed peas that meets her exacting standards, and the winner can marry her son. Includes recipe for Princess' black-eyed peas.