'She'd never dreamt she'd wind up being a mum before she had a baby.' When Annie was swept off her feet by handsome widower Simon, she willingly promised to have and to hold all that he held dear, including his daughter, Lydia. Lydia's mother died years before in a sailing accident and it's clear from the off that the young girl doesn't welcome her new stepmother. As a lucrative job offer for Simon forces them all to decamp to America, Annie has a lot to learn. How do you fit in in a close-knit US town? What makes her daughter tick? And how do you try to convince your new husband that he's done the right thing in marrying in haste? For every woman who's had to juggle the complexities of step-parenting, this sharp and funny look at the world of modern famililes will ring very true indeed.

Author Biography

Elise Childley is South African by birth but now lives in Connecticut with her husband and three children. She has written short stories and has been shortlisted for the Nadine Gordimer award and the Ian St James awards. This is her first novel.