The Hatbox Letters

Beth Powning offers readers an unforgettable story of love, grief and renewal both past and present as well as her extraordinary perceptions of the natural world. At the age of fifty-two, Kate Harding has hit a crossroads: the pain that overwhelmed her when her husband died suddenly from a heart attack the previous year hasnt diminished, and she is at a loss as to how to go on with her life. Living alone in her large Victorian house, its emptiness magnified by memories of better days, Kate can only dream of a time when her grief will abate, at least enough to allow her to hope for change. When Kates sister drops off nine antique hatboxes of papers recovered from their grandparents eighteenth-century home in Connecticut, Kate isn t sure she is ready to face the remnants of her familys past. Shes having enough trouble going through Toms things. Soon, though, the smell of the hatboxes begins to permeate the...