What matters most

"There was a time when breaking free from familial expectations would cost them more than they could bear. Now, in a time of shared mourning for this mother and daughter, the enigmatic life of one will be illuminated to the other. For thirty-six years, Georgia Merkin adored her father Adam, beloved pediatrician, frustrated poet and buffer against her cold, fiercely ambitious mother, Dr. Estelle Merkin. When Adam dies of cancer, Georgie--a magazine writer and self-sufficient divorcee with a young son--must envision a world without her father's shelter. With regal Estelle crumbling in her grief long after the funeral, Georgie must find the courage to confront their years of detachment and misunderstanding. Secret histories wash up in sorrows wake and the scars of Estelle's past will resurface, with a truth that may finally bind them into a family--or tear them apart forever. And as her world seems to collapse around her, Georgie may just rediscover an unexpected love and the depth of the roots that define her."--Publisher's website.