Dear Reader,

ALREADY HOME is one of the most emotional stories I’ve ever written, a story of a woman who learns to open her heart and, in the process, discovers that love doesn’t wait for an invitation. Jenna Stevens is still reeling from a recent divorce and recuperating from wounds inflicted by a husband who belittled her at every opportunity. A classically trained chef, Jenna no longer believes she’s capable of the leaps of creativity that once won her praise from her instructors and from food critics, so she moves back to her hometown in Texas to open a retail cooking store.

Just as Jenna’s settling into her new career and beginning to feel like she’s on even ground, her birth mother barrels her way into Jenna’s life. Jenna doesn’t want or need a second mother, especially a vegan mother named Serenity who would have named her Butterfly. But while Serenity listens to signs from the Universe, she easily ignores Jenna telling her to go away. With gentle but insistent pressure, she will find a way to open Jenna’s heart.

And once the heart is open, anything can happen!

With complicated family dynamics and lots of juicy emotions to dig into, Already Home will make a terrific selection for book clubs. I’ve included a reader group guide in Already Home, or you can download a printable version here. 

If your book club or reading group selects Already Home and you’d like to chat with me on the phone about the story, please email my assistant at jenel@susanmallery.com.

 

NOTE: There are spoilers in both the questions and the answers. I recommend that you don’t read through these until after you have finished reading Already Home