I just finished an amazing debut novel written by my friend, Karen's niece. Jessica Guerrieri has created a work that, while difficult at times to read, was impossible to put down.

Jessica's says of her writing, "So no, I don’t think fiction is a lesser truth. I think it’s the bravest one. We tell stories not to escape life—but to survive it. To make something of the weight. To transform grief into something we can carry. Something we can even, someday, set down. And then, maybe, we hand it to someone else. Maybe they hear their truth in our voice. And maybe, for a moment, they feel a little less alone. Fiction doesn’t hide the truth—it metabolizes it into something we can stomach. Something that prepares us for what we’re meant to survive." Wow.