From Publishers Weekly
Well into their 70s, Winnie McClelland and wealthy Jerry Trevis have fallen in love, causing consternation among their extended family. Jerry's daughter, Annette, in particular, feels financially threatened when her newlywed father moves from Chicago to a small town in New York State, where he's purchased the largest, most ostentatious house in Hartfield for his bride; worried that her inheritance might go to Winnie's family, Annette sues to freeze her father's assets. Meanwhile, Winnie's daughter, Rachel, has asked her new stepfather for a sizable loan to help deal with her ill husband's overwhelming health-care bills. Annette's son, Avery, a recovering drug addict and promising young chef, is also looking to Jerry for the resources to start up his own restaurant. Further conflict arises from Winnie's plans to cut down a historic tree for a new front-yard swimming pool, a move that threatens to alienate the entire town. Tedrowe exhibits some beginner's awkwardness in her debut, particularly in her self-conscious euphemisms for septuagenarian sex, but shows great promise in her compassionate, nuanced depiction of love—among the old and young alike—and her confident handling of alternating, multigenerational narrators.
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Why shouldn’t a 78-year-old bride have a lavish June wedding? Winnie not only marries Jerry, a confident, wealthy, octogenarian Chicago businessman, in style, the newlyweds also buy a huge old mansion graced by a venerable sycamore. The couple’s children are appalled. Winnie’s daughter Rachel is struggling to keep her family afloat as her husband recovers from a severe brain injury. Jerry’s daughter Annette instructs her son Avery, a college drop-out and rehab graduate living in New York City, to keep an eye on his grandfather in his new Upstate home, but Jerry’s enthusiasm for Avery’s burgeoning culinary skills is hardly what she had in mind. Rachel turns to Jerry for financial assistance; Annette launches a vicious legal battle to protect her inheritance; and Winnie ignites vehement protests as she plans to cut down the landmark tree. Tedrowe is an exceptionally adept first-time novelist, creating a thoroughly engrossing plot, redolent settings, and intriguing characters coping valiantly with fear, terrible decisions, and the bewitchment of money. Tedrowe’s tale of family conflict, shelter, love, and loss is suspenseful, funny, and tender. --Donna Seaman
