Jean Reynolds Page

The Word on the Street

On The Space Between Before
and After
:

Chosen as a Summer Must-Read by Woman's Day Magazine, July 2008

"In this complex, multilayered book, Page revisits familiar themes in the story of one family coming to terms with loss and past events . . . . [Page] seamlessly navigates the book's intertwining narratives and presents believable characters, at once imperfect and utterly sympathetic. Both the story's emotional pull and intricate plot twists are sure to seduce new readers."
--Publishers Weekly

On A Blessed Event:

"As beginnings go, this one's a stunner."
--Seattle Times

"A narrative that grows more and more compelling as Page unearths secrets, reveals character, and lays -- and layers -- the groundwork for an ending that is moving, believable, and earned.
--The Boston Globe


On Accidental Happiness:

"A touching novel about loss and the courage necessary to move beyond the past, Page's tale is filled with genuine and sympathetic characters." --Booklist

"Page steps easily into the shoes of her appealingly flawed characters as she weaves a convincing web of unconventional family relationships."
--Publishers Weekly


 


A Note to My Readers:
Anyone who has come to jeanreynoldspage.com over the last year will know that I’ve been a spotty custodian of my web site. I slipped into a rabbit hole while working on my latest book and emerged to find myself living in Madison, Wisconsin!  Yes, we’ve moved from Seattle and, as of August 10, I have a new book on the shelves (LEAVING BEFORE IT’S OVER). All of this has prompted me to make a new book/new hometown resolution. I’m going to try to do a better job of keeping up with the blessed souls who take the time to visit this web site.

So to all who have visited before, my apologies for being so negligent. For anyone new to the site, a big welcome.  And thanks to all for clicking in this direction!

Resilience, Resolution, Redemption

In Stores Now:
Leaving Before It's Over

Leaving Before It's Over, by Jean Reynolds PageWhen Roy Vines married his wife, Rosalind, he traded his family and his inheritance for love—a painful choice that has blessed them with years of joy nestled in rural North Carolina with their beautiful daughters, sixteen-year-old Lola and little Janie Ray. But their happiness is threatened when Rosalind suddenly falls ill. Desperate to get her the help she needs, Roy does the one thing he swore he'd never do—turn to his heartless and bitter identical twin brother, Mont, for help.The price is steep—and includes opening their home to a teenage boy who believes Roy is the father who abandoned him. As bad blood threatens to destroy her family, Rosalind must make a difficult choice. Should she walk away—like Roy once did—for love, or try to mend wounds that may never be healed? And will the pain of choosing be more than her heart can bear?

Read More About Leaving Before It's Over
Read an excerpt of Leaving Before It's Over
Buy
Leaving Before It's Over
 
 



 

The Last Summer of Her Other Life

From Jean Reynolds Page—the critically acclaimed author of The Space Between Before and After and one of the most compelling voices in contemporary women's fiction—comes a dazzling novel of loss and redemption, of relationships that damage and those that heal. Thirty-nine and pregnant by a man she's decided to leave behind in California, Jules' life is changing. Always the protected daughter, she must now relinquish that role and prepare to be a mother herself. But her efforts are upstaged by shocking allegations from a local teen in her North Carolina hometown. The boy has accused her of what the police are calling “inappropriate sexual contact.” Three men rally in her defense: Lincoln, her brother, who flies in from New York to help her; Sam, her high school boyfriend, who after so many years still offers unconditional support; and Walt, the uncle of the teen, who charms Jules with his intelligence and unanticipated kindness. Her search for the truth about the troubled teenager becomes, for Jules, a first step toward discovering the woman she wishes to be. But with so many wrong choices behind her, how can she trust herself with the future of her unborn child?

Read more about The Last Summer of Her Other Life
Read an excerpt
of The Last Summer of Her Other Life
Buy
The Last Summer of Her Other Life
 


 

The Space Between Before and After

Holli Templeton is afraid that something terrible will happen in her family. From her home outside Manhattan, she watches news accounts of the Space Shuttle Columbia as it breaks apart over her native Texas, and she worries that some devastating event in her own life will follow. Twice before, moments of suffering in her family have run strangely parallel with the large moments of men in space. Her young mother died on the day Neil Armstrong first stepped onto the moon. An unborn child was lost to her on the day the shuttle Challenger exploded.

Read more about The Space Between Before and After
Read an excerpt from The Space Between Before and After
Buy The Space Between Before and After
Read about the soundtrack for The Space Between Before and After
Buy the soundtrack for The Space Between Before and After
 




Accidental Happiness

Accidental Happiness by Jean Reynolds PageThree months after losing her young husband, Ben, Gina, who lost her younger sister at age 12, is only going through the motions. But then Ben’s ex-wife, Reese, shows up with her seven-year-old daughter, Angel. Reese isn’t sure if Ben is Angel’s father, and the child unnerves Gina, whose only argument with Ben was over children. And Reese stirs up feelings of jealousy in Gina. In spite of her emotional discomfort, Gina, who is living on Ben’s sailboat in a Charlotte marina, eventually realizes that the intrusion of these two people is bringing her back to the world of the living, and piercing the fog surrounding her. A touching novel about loss and the courage necessary to move beyond the past, Page’s tale is filled with genuine and sympathetic characters that make the reader feel vested in the outcome of the story. --Booklist

Read more about Accidental Happiness
Read Chapter One
Buy Accidental Happiness



 

A Blessed Event

A Blessed EventBest friends since childhood, Joanne and Darla are now embroiled in a predicament worthy of Solomon's wisdom. Perennial bad girl Joanne has agreed to carry a baby for infertile homebody Darla. The baby's father is Darla's husband, Cal. After a perplexing visit by Joanne, Darla wonders about everyone's role in these unorthodox circumstances, especially after Joanne, four months pregnant, drives her car into Darla's bedroom. The accident leaves Joanne severely brain damaged and in a coma; however, the baby survives. Now Darla must battle Joanne's estranged parents, first for Joanne's life, then for custody of the baby. As Cal, mysteriously, begins to distance himself from Darla and the tangled situation, Darla looks for answers to Joanne's inexplicable actions of that fateful night. Her search leads her to an old boyfriend whom Joanne had been confiding in and other family secrets Joanne had been hiding from Darla for their entire lives. Tight plotting, sympathetic characters, and intriguing moral issues will make this book a good choice for reading groups.

"Page's debut treats readers to a juicy read with a spiritual side, set in smalltown Texas. Childhood best friends Joanne Timbro and Darla Stevens have found an unusual solution to Darla's fertility." --Booklist

Read more about A Blessed Event
Read Chapter One
Buy A Blessed Event
 

 

Please notify me with news about new Jean Reynolds Page books and events!