Little Lovely Things

Debut author Connolly explores the emotional devastation that plays out after a woman’s young daughters mysteriously disappear. In 1991 Chicago, medical resident Claire Rawlings is driving her daughters to their daycare when she feels nauseous and stops at a gas station and rushes to the rest room and passes out. When she regains consciousness, Claire discovers that her car and her daughters, four-year-old Andrea and 15-month-old Lily, are gone. Police have few clues about who may have taken the girls. The impact on the lives of Claire and her husband, Glen, is shattering, and their marriage begins to unravel. As years pass and Claire can’t shake the guilt about feeling responsible for the disappearance of her daughters, she questions why Glen has never voiced his blame of her. Claire eventually meets with Jay White, a drifter who has given police some information that has assisted them in their investigation of the abduction of Lily and Andrea; Claire believes he may have psychic powers, leaving her with a sense of hope that her daughters are still alive. Connolly’s lyrical writing style and the fast-paced narrative draw in the reader right away. This is a riveting novel bolstered by its flawed, believable characters. [em]Agent: Heather Karpas, ICM Partners. (Apr.) [/em]