Coming Apart

The engrossing latest from Heenan (the Tudor Court series) portrays a family barely surviving in Depression-era Pennsylvania. Ava Kimber lives in 1931 Scovill Run with her husband and five children and is pregnant with her sixth child when her mother dies. Her husband, Daniel, and their oldest son, 14-year-old Dandy, work long hours as coal miners, and Ava gets help in preparing for the funeral from her oldest daughter, 12-year-old Pearl. Meanwhile, Ava’s sister, Claire, returns for their mother’s funeral to a town she was happy to leave behind when she married wealthy businessman Harry Warriner, whom she met while working at a hotel in Scranton, Pa. When Claire offers to help Ava financially, the gesture only exacerbates the sisters’ tension; Ava can’t seem to forgive Claire for leaving Scovill Run. Heenan adds depth to the characters, highlighting how their class differences are complicated by misunderstandings about the past. Readers will be drawn to this gritty and authentic historical narrative. (Self-published)