The House on Hope Street

Book excerpt: Life was good for Liz and Jack Sutherland. In 18 years of marriage, they had built a family, a successful law practice, and a warm, happy home near San Francisco, in a house on Hope Street. Then, in an instant, it all fell apart. It began like any other Christmas morning, with joy and children's laughter. But for Jack Sutherland, a five-minute errand ends in tragedy. And suddenly, Liz is alone, facing painful questions in the wake of an unbearable loss. How can she go on without her husband, her partner, her best friend? How can she grieve when she must console five devastated children, including one with special needs of his own? Powered by her children's love, Liz finds the strength to return to work, to become both mother and 'daddy', coaching her youngest son for the Special Olympics. And one by one the holidays come and go before her eyes: Valentine's Day without flowers and without Jack...Easter...July 4th...Then, just weeks before Labor Day, a devastating accident sends her oldest son to the hospital-and brings a doctor named Bill Webster into her life. Bill becomes a friend to Liz as he slowly heals her shattered son. And as long as the days of summer blend into fall, a new relationship offers new hope, and Liz reflects on what she has, on what she's lost, on the little blessings that give strength when nothing else is left. Then, with the first anniversary of her husband's death approaching, and with it another Christmas in the house on Hope Street, Liz will face one more crisis before she can look back at a year of mourning and change-and ahead to the beginning of a new life. THE HOUSE ON HOPE STREET is about learning to live again after you think life is over, about gettting up when you have been knocked down, again and again. It is about cherishing small miracles, and believing in big ones. It is above all about hope.