"Warm and rich, full of emotion and human experience... gifts for the soul." Maureen Nery, author of Saving Grace A young woman crosses continents in a desperate bid to rescue a childhood friend from the confines of an abuse-induced agoraphobia. Under cover of night, an octogenarian sneaks out of her home and goes on the run in a last-ditch attempt to escape those who would make her age a cage. A grandmother seeks connection with a grandchild taken before she was ever known. Women find their strength amid the loss of children, grandchildren, of their own agency and sense of self. With the lyrical language and keen sense of place that readers of Marshall's novels have come to know, these stories transport the reader from the wilds of remote Scottish islands to the swamps of South Carolina. These are tales of outsiders, of survivors connecting deeply with the natural world-with seas and skies and what lies between. As they battle fear, abuse, mental illness and oppressive societal norms, each of their tales offers us hope and a guide to ways of claiming our fullness even in the most challenging circumstances.
