Back home in North Carolina, Ben Joe Hawkes was admittedly a worrier, but he was also head of the household for his grandmother, his mother, and his six sisters. In New York, as a law student, he’s not quite sure what his role should be.

So, when his eldest sister returns home with her baby girl, Ben Joe decides it’s time to figure himself out by doing what he does best. He heads home to take care of his family. He’s prepared himself for every possible outcome but one: What if the women he’s left behind don’t need him as much as he needs them?

Pulitzer Prize winner Anne Tyler wrote this first novel at age twenty-two and perfectly captures life on the precipice of adulthood.

“Brilliant. … An exceedingly good novel.”—The New York Times
Published by: Recorded Books, Inc.