April May June July

Hart (The Work Wife) spins a wrenching story of unsettled familial grief. Siblings April, May, June (who has renamed herself Juniper), and July believe their civilian contractor father, Frank, was killed by his kidnappers in 2004 Iraq. While April is traveling in Croatia with their mother, Nancy, she thinks she sees her father alive and well in the coastal city of Dubrovnik. Old wounds are reopened after the family members hear the news, and they each reckon with how his absence has fractured their lives. Juniper is preparing to marry her longtime love Hana, a Syrian American woman, and trying to disguise her dependence on alcohol; July is struggling with his unrequited love for his friend Lucas; and April, seemingly the perfect wife and mother, is cheating on her husband Ross with an edgy boyfriend who’s into the kind of kinky sex she’s been looking for. Hart’s taut plotting keeps readers guessing about Frank’s fate until the end of the novel, which finds the siblings reunited in Iraq. Supporting cast members, especially Frank’s translator Tariq, illuminate America’s missteps in the Middle East. This will move readers. Agent: Jenni Ferrari-Adler, Union Literary. (May)