Lola’s Secret

Australian author McInerney revisits the Quinlan family (first introduced in 2005’s The Alphabet Sisters), this time focusing on the quirky matriarch: 84-year-old Lola. After ensuring that her son, Jim—the proprietor of the South Australian motel that Lola calls home—and his wife, Geraldine, go on a much needed vacation over Christmas, Lola secretly invites a disparate group of guests to stay at the motel free of charge. As the adventure approaches, readers learn that Lola is a favorite among friends and family, including her squabbling granddaughters Bett and Carrie, who prefer commiserating with their grandmother to confiding in Geraldine, a practice that triggers the latter’s resentment. Lola also serves as referee and advice-giver at the thrift store where she works, whose “NASA control room” of computers she uses to keep in touch with great-granddaughter Ellen. Politics at the shop, family tensions, a rotating cast of characters, and the possibility of Lola locating her lost love keep this book jam-packed with plot lines, and though one gimmicky thread gets lost en route to the end, big personalities and believable conflicts keep the story engaging. Agent: Grainne Fox, Fletcher & Co. (Oct.)