Sleep in Peace

A period piece for Gen X that deals with themes of alcoholism, family secrets, and self-destructive tendencies, this terse but also funny novel is a Californian Fleabag set in 2007. It's 2007, and while 43-year-old Leanne Spencer's career is building up steam, her love life is a trainwreck. She's always believed her addiction to bad boys stems from her flawless father dying when she was a child, but it turns out Mom’s a liar, Dad’s not dead, and her childhood was a well-crafted illusion. After Leanne forces Mom to confess what really happened, she’s not sure what to believe. Mom’s flashbacks of an innocent jazz singer and the manipulative creep who ruined her life sound more like a 1950s B-movie than reality. And yet, the unthinkable stories explain more than Leanne is willing to admit. In the midst of trying to pry the truth from her mother's locked lips, Leanne is falling fast for "The One," David, a sexy, grounded widower who is perfect, except he’s none too thrilled with Leanne’s trust issues. Determined to figure herself out before committing to David, she’s on a secret mission to meet her dad and discover if he’s misunderstood and her mom is something far worse than a liar. As her past, present, and future collide, Leanne must reconcile the inconceivable and rescue herself or lose a dream of a man who accepts her for exactly who she is, flaws and all. Content Warnings: Domestic abuse and manipulation, a scene of marital rape, alcoholism, child sexual abuse, injury to animals