The Diary

As their mother lies dying in a nursing home, two sisters find her diary—and a mother they never knew. Written shortly before their parents' marriage, the diary details their mother's romance with another man, and the sisters are moved to discover the depth of their mother's heartache. Slipping between a nostalgic past and the present, the story is suspenseful and surprising, and the versatile Susan Ericksen gives the characters the life, color and personality they deserve, effortlessly and faithfully conveying the middle-class, Midwestern setting. A Vanguard hardcover. (Apr.)