Heirlooms

Answering a woman's desperate call for help, young Navy widow Helen Devries opens her Whidbey Island home as a refuge to Choi Eunhee. As they bond over common losses and a delicate, potentially devastating secret, their friendship spans the remainder of their lives. After losing her mother, Cassidy Quinn spent her childhood summers with her gran, Helen, at her farmhouse. Nourished by her grandmother's love and encouragement, Cassidy discovers a passion that she hopes will bloom into a career. But after Helen passes, Cassidy learns that her home and garden have fallen into serious disrepair. Worse, a looming tax debt threatens her inheritance. Facing the loss of her legacy and in need of allies and ideas, Cassidy reaches out to Nick, her former love, despite the complicated emotions brought by having him back in her life. Cassidy inherits not only the family home but a task, spoken with her grandmother's final breaths: ask Grace Kim-Eunhee's granddaughter-to help sort through the contents of the locked hope chest in the attic. As she and Grace dig into the past, they unearth their grandmothers' long-held secret and more. Each startling revelation reshapes their understanding of their grandmothers and ultimately inspires the courage to take risks and make changes to own their lives. Set in both modern-day and midcentury Whidbey Island, Washington, this dual-narrative story of four women-grandmothers and granddaughters-intertwines across generations to explore the secrets we keep, the love we pass down, and the heirlooms we inherit from a well-lived life.

Sandra Byrd is the author of more than fifty published books, including the historical novels To Die For, Mist of Midnight, and her most recent, Lady of a Thousand Treasures. She has received many awards, nominations, and accolades for her work, including the Historical Novel Society's Editor's Choice award, two Christy Award nominations, Library Journal Best Book selections, and inclusion on Booklist's Top Ten Inspirational Books of the Year list. Sandra lives in Seattle with her husband and with her grown children nearby.