Nora Walker has built a safe, quiet life for herself, hiding from the trauma of her early years. Most of the time, she's content with her library job, her faithful dog named Alice Walker, and her growing collection of favorite first lines from novels. But a surprising phone call prompts Nora to board a plane to Chicago, where a reunion with her three best friends forces all four women to deal with past scars and present wounds. Cecilia Galante (The Patron Saint of Butterflies) tells a difficult story with sensitivity and grace in The Invisibles, her first novel for adults.
Thrown together as teenagers at Turning Winds Home for Girls, Nora, Grace, Ozzie and Monica formed a tightly knit group, dubbing themselves The Invisibles and holding regular meetings to discuss their fears and dreams. But the events of one terrible night in their senior year fractured the girls' bond, and when the other three left town after graduation, Nora stayed behind. Now, as the women reconvene at Grace's home, they must confront the lingering pain of that night and the choices they have made since then.
Though Galante's narration focuses on Nora, she gives each of the women the chance to tell her own story. All four have fought to overcome their broken families and difficult pasts, but it is their reunion--and their honesty with one another--that enables them to move forward with courage.
Fraught with pain but quietly hopeful, The Invisibles is a moving tribute to the strength of female friendship. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams