A Place to Land - by Lauren K Denton

About the Book

Written in Lauren Denton's signature Southern style, A Place to Land tells a story of sisterhood, healing, and the meaning of home.

Book Synopsis

"A delightful Southern story extolling the deep bond of sisters, Lauren Denton's?A Place to?Land?has a heartwarming tone as it unravels a 40-year-old mystery coming back to haunt a cast of small-town characters whose lives are entwined in Sugar Bend, Alabama." --New York Journal of Books.

Violet Figg and her sister Trudy have lived a quiet life in Sugar Bend, Alabama, since a night forty years ago that stole Trudy's voice and cemented Violet's role as her sister's fierce and loyal protector. Now Trudy spends her days making sculptures from found objects and speaking through notes written on scraps of paper, while Violet runs their art shop, monitors bird activity up and down the water, and tries not to think of the one great love she gave up to keep her sister safe.

Eighteen-year-old Maya knows where everyone else belongs, but she's been searching for her own place since her grandmother died seven years ago. Moving in and out of strangers' houses has left her exhausted. After seeing a flyer on a gas station window for a place called Sugar Bend, Maya chooses to follow the strange pull she feels and finds herself on the doorstep of an art shop called Two Sisters.

When a boat rises to the surface of Little River in the middle of the night, the present and no-longer-buried past collide, and the future becomes uncertain for Maya, Violet, and Trudy. As history creeps continuously closer to the present and old secrets come to light, the sisters must decide to face the truth of what happened that night forty years ago, or risk losing each other and those they've come to love.

"A touching tribute to sisterhood, first loves, and promises kept." --Susan Meissner, USA TODAY bestselling author of The Nature of Fragile Things

Review Quotes

A small Alabama town confronts a decades-old secret in the atmospheric latest from Denton (The One You're With) . . . Denton masterfully paces this slow-burn mystery and vividly renders the dark undercurrent of small-town life, exemplified in the residents' unwillingness to believe that beloved local celebrity Jay was abusive. This thriller will keep readers on the edge of their seats.--Publishers Weekly

Denton takes familiar themes, wraps them around compelling characters, then adds a bit of magical realism fitting to the setting. Sugar Bend feels real, gritty with salt and sand and small-town folks you'd want to meet on vacation. A Place to Land is a trip on the river you'll be glad you took.--Nashville Book Review

Lauren Denton unfurls a mystery by reconciling a buried past with a modern-day story set in a town with vibrant characters brimming with Southern charm.--New York Journal of Books

A Lauren K. Denton novel is like a whispered secret from a dear friend, and her latest lyrical stunner is no exception. A Place to Land captures the gray areas of life in all their complexity and questions whether we can ever really move on from the past. In a story of sisterhood and small-town secrets, Denton proves that, in our lives, like our art, there is always a chance to create beauty from the brokenness. Denton is a masterful storyteller who makes magic on every perfect page.--Kristy Woodson Harvey, New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding Veil

Lauren K. Denton is a master at crafting deeply meaningful stories that explore the relationships that give life purpose, beauty, and richness. A Place to Land is a touching tribute to sisterhood, first loves, and promises kept.--Susan Meissner, USA TODAY bestselling author of The Nature of Fragile Things