{"product_id":"the-underside-of-joy-isbn-9780452298736","title":"The Underside of Joy","description":"“[An] exquisite debut . . . moving and hopeful.” –\u003ci\u003ePeople Style Watch \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTo Ella Beene, happiness means living in the Northern California river town of Elbow, California, with her husband Joe and his two young children. But one summer day Joe drowns, leaving Ella alone with Annie and Zach—until his ex-wife, Paige, shows up at the funeral. For three years, Ella believed that Paige had selfishly abandoned her family. Yet—as the custody fight between mother and stepmother ensues—Ella realizes there may be more to the story than Joe ever revealed.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Underside of Joy\u003c\/i\u003e is not a fairy-tale version of step-motherhood, pitting good against evil, but a captivating story of two women who both claim to be the mother of the same two children.\"The writing in \u003ci\u003eThe Underside of Joy\u003c\/i\u003e is as purely beautiful as  the story is emotionally complex.  When Ella Beene is wrenched from a  state of unexamined happiness into confusion and grief, she finds that  her only hope of emerging whole is to face searing and long-buried  truths.  Ella embarks on a difficult journey, both morally and  materially, one that requires her to risk losing everything she most  loves.  I cheered (sometimes through tears) her every step.\" -Marisa de los Santos\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"An exquisite debut...moving and hopeful.\" -\u003ci\u003ePeople Style Watch\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Searingly smart and exquisitely written, Halverson's knockout debut limns family, marriage and a custody battle in a way that gets under your skin and leaves you changed. To say I loved this book would be an understatement.\" -Caroline Leavitt, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003ePictures of You\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A book club favorite.” –Associated Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Engrossing and keenly affecting.” –\u003ci\u003eDallas Morning News\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eSERÉ PRINCE HALVERSON\u003c\/b\u003e lives in northern California and worked as  a freelance copywriter for twenty years while she wrote fiction. She  and her husband have four grown children. She is a mom and a stepmom,  and grew up with a mom and a stepmom. This is her debut novel.","brand":"Plume","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46300953542885,"sku":"NP9780452298736","price":22.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780452298736.jpg?v=1767741985","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-underside-of-joy-isbn-9780452298736","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}