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Hardcover
$30.00
Available on Feb 09, 2027 | 272 Pages
AN ENGROSSING DEBUT NOVEL FROM JENNA BUSH HAGER’S VENTURE, THOUSAND VOICES
Kari and her twin brother, Matt, are fresh out of high school when their family rents a summer cottage in the sleepy lake town of Culver Point. It should be an idyllic holiday before college in the fall, but their volatile—and at times abusive—father quickly makes things unbearable. Soon, Matt’s drinking too much and Kari is looking for any excuse to get out of the house. But then she meets a local named Michael and finds herself instantly drawn to him. Before long, they’re both unable to think of anything else but each other, and as they grow closer, so does the possibility for everything to go wrong.
Years later, Kari is on her way back to Culver Point for the first time since that fateful summer to attend a family wedding. She’s trying hard to keep her anxiety hidden from her devoted fiancé, Jonathan, who knows nothing of her history in this place. Kari is now estranged from Matt, barely speaking to her father, and tormented by memories of the way things ended with Michael and how his actions forever impacted her family.
Then Matt reappears for the first time in years, unexpectedly joining their now-divorced parents, Kari, and Jonathan for this supposedly happy occasion. Tension builds relentlessly as they all try to avoid confronting the fallout of the last night they spent together in Culver Point all those years ago—and find a way forward.
Told in alternating timelines, past and present collide in this moving story of the ripple effects of first love and the repercussions of complicated family dynamics.
Kari and her twin brother, Matt, are fresh out of high school when their family rents a summer cottage in the sleepy lake town of Culver Point. It should be an idyllic holiday before college in the fall, but their volatile—and at times abusive—father quickly makes things unbearable. Soon, Matt’s drinking too much and Kari is looking for any excuse to get out of the house. But then she meets a local named Michael and finds herself instantly drawn to him. Before long, they’re both unable to think of anything else but each other, and as they grow closer, so does the possibility for everything to go wrong.
Years later, Kari is on her way back to Culver Point for the first time since that fateful summer to attend a family wedding. She’s trying hard to keep her anxiety hidden from her devoted fiancé, Jonathan, who knows nothing of her history in this place. Kari is now estranged from Matt, barely speaking to her father, and tormented by memories of the way things ended with Michael and how his actions forever impacted her family.
Then Matt reappears for the first time in years, unexpectedly joining their now-divorced parents, Kari, and Jonathan for this supposedly happy occasion. Tension builds relentlessly as they all try to avoid confronting the fallout of the last night they spent together in Culver Point all those years ago—and find a way forward.
Told in alternating timelines, past and present collide in this moving story of the ripple effects of first love and the repercussions of complicated family dynamics.
Author
Sabrina Fielding
Sabrina Fielding is a Toronto-based writer originally from Alliston, Ontario. Her short story Knick Knack was the prize recipient of the inaugural Montreal Fiction Prize, featured in Yolk Literary Magazine, and nominated for a 2025 National Magazine Award for Fiction. Her work has also been featured in publications such as Montréal Writes, The Queen’s Journal, and MUSE, and placed first in the 2017 and 2022 South Simcoe Creative Works contest. She holds degrees in both French and Education from Queen’s University, and has worked in both education and the non-profit sector. The Way We Left Things is her debut novel.
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