Return to Willow Lake
#1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs brings readers home to Avalon, an idyllic town nestled on the tranquil shores of Willow Lake. There, one woman will rediscover her family and her dreams, and find a surprising new love…Sonnet Romano’s life is almost perfect. She has the ideal career, the ideal boyfriend, and has just been offered a prestigious fellowship. There’s nothing more a woman wants – except maybe a baby… brother? When Sonnet finds out her mother is unexpectedly expecting, and that the pregnancy is high risk, she puts everything on hold – the job, the fellowship, the boyfriend – and heads home to Avalon. Once her mom is out of danger, Sonnet intends to pick up her life where she left off.But when her mother receives a devastating diagnosis, Sonnet must decide what really matters in life, even if that means staying in Avalon and taking a job that forces her to work alongside her biggest, and maybe her sweetest, mistake – award-winning filmmaker Zach Alger. So Sonnet embarks on a summer of laughter and tears, of old dreams and new possibilities and of finding the home of her heart.At once heart-breaking and uplifting, Return to Willow Lake plumbs the deepest corners of the human heart, exploring the bonds of family, the perils and rewards of love, and the true meaning of home. Profoundly emotional and resonant, this is Susan Wiggs at her finest.
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#1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs brings readers home to Avalon, an idyllic town nestled on the tranquil shores of Willow Lake. There, one woman will rediscover her family and her dreams, and find a surprising new love. â¦
Sonnet Romanoâs life is almost perfect. She has the ideal career, the ideal boyfriend, and has just been offered a prestigious fellowship. Thereâs nothing more a woman wantsâexcept maybe a baby...brother?
When Sonnet finds out her mother is unexpectedly expecting, and that the pregnancy is high risk, she puts everything on holdâthe job, the fellowship, the boyfriendâand heads home to Avalon. Once her mom is out of danger, Sonnet intends to pick up her life where she left off.
But when her mother receives a devastating diagnosis, Sonnet must decide what really matters in life, even if that means staying in Avalon and taking a job that forces her to work alongside her biggest, and maybe her sweetest, mistakeâaward-winning filmmaker Zach Alger. So Sonnet embarks on a summer of laughter and tears, of old dreams and new possibilities, and of finding the home of her heart.
To imakepesto from beachwriter
Part One
SONNET ROMANOâS
MUST-DO-BEFORE-AGE-THIRTY LIST
A Scout is never taken by surprise; he knows exactly what to do when anything unexpected happens.
âROBERT BADEN-POWELL (SCOUTING FOR BOYS, 1908)
Chapter One
Moments before the wedding was to begin, Sonnet Romano shuddered with a wave of nervousness. âMom,â she said, hurrying over to the window, which framed a view of Willow Lake, âwhat if I screw up?â
Her mother turned from the window. The late afternoon light shrouded Nina Bellamyâs slender form, and for a moment she appeared ethereal and as young as Sonnet herself. Nina looked fantastic in her autumn-gold silk sheath, her dark hair swept back into a low chignon. Only someone who knew her the way Sonnet did might notice the subtle lines of fatigue around her eyes and mouth, the vague puffiness of her skin. Just prior to the wedding, sheâd attended the funeral, up in Albany, of her favorite aunt, who had died the week before of cancer, and the grief of goodbye lingered in her face.
âYouâre not going to screw up,â Nina said. âYouâre going to be fabulous. You look amazing in that dress, youâve memorized everything youâre going to do and say, and itâs going to be a wonderful evening.â
âYes, butââ
âRemember what I used to say when you were littleâyour smile is my sunshine.â
âI remember.â And the memory did its magic, bringing a smile to her face. Her mom had raised Sonnet alone, but only now that she was grown did she appreciate how hard that had been for Nina. âYou gave me lots of memories, Mom.â
âCome here, you.â Nina opened her arms and Sonnet gratefully slipped into her motherâs embrace.
âThis feels nice. I wish I had a chance to come back here more often.â Sonnet turned her face to the warm breeze blowing in through the window. The sheer beauty of the lake, nestled between the gentle swells of the Catskills, made her heart ache. Though sheâd grown up in Avalon, the place felt foreign to Sonnet now, a world she used to inhabit and couldnât wait to leave.
Despite her vivid memories of her childhood here, playing in the woods with her friends or sledding down the hills in winter, sheâd never truly appreciated the scenery until sheâd left it behind, eager to find her life far away. Now that she lived in Manhattan, crammed into a closet-sized walk-up studio on a noisy East Side street, she finally understood the appeal of her old hometown.
âI wish you could, too,â Nina said. âItâs time-consuming, isnât it, saving the world?â
Sonnet chuckled. âIs that what Iâm doing? Saving the world?â
âAs a matter of fact, it is. Sweetie, Iâm so proud to tell people you work with UNESCO, that your department saves childrenâs lives all over the world.â
âAh, thanks, Mom. You make me think I do more than write emails and fill out forms.â Sonnet often found herself wishing she could actually work with a child every once in a while. Buried in administrative chores, it was easy to forget.
On the smoothly-mown lawn below, guests were beginning to take their seats for the ceremony. Many of the groomâs friends were in military dress uniform, adding a note of gravitas to the atmosphere.
