Enchanting Lily

Book excerpt: From the author of the “luminous [and] gorgeous” (Susan Wiggs) Haunting Jasmine comes a glorious new novel that reaches straight into to the heart to celebrate the resilience of the human spirit… “I wonder how my carefully planned life could have tipped so far out of balance?” Into the quaint town of Fairport on Shelter Island comes Lily Byrne, a young widow who is not so much running from the old but rather edging toward something new and indefinable. Here in the peaceful Pacific Northwest, newly engaged in her vintage clothing boutique, she hides from the world. But Lily knows that solitude can’t sustain her forever. Somehow, somewhere, something’s got to give. It does, with the unexpected arrival of an exuberant little cat. As Lily searches for the cat’s true home, she embarks on a journey just as unpredictable—one of healing and renewal that opens up a whole new world in this small island community she now calls home. Saved by the hidden graces of others, she even allows herself to fall in love again. But how much of this is serendipity? How much is destiny? As Lily starts looking at herself, and her life, in an enlightening new way, she can’t help but also wonder, how long can such good fortune last?