Grief, envy, and desire drive this hilarious and disarmingly tender novel by a master of humor and heart.
When your ex-boyfriend offers to pay you to move in with him and his fiancée, you should definitely say no. Piper says yes.
Three years ago, Aaron, her live-in boyfriend, mysteriously ghosted her. Now he's suddenly reappeared and wants a favor? And yet, from where Piper sits--in her dead brother's bedroom in Vinland, Kansas, her depressed mom down the hall, her unfinished children's book gathering dust, and her bank account empty--Aaron's unusual but lucrative offer sounds like it just might be her ticket out. All she has to do is spend some time as his guest in Bellingham, Washington, helping his fiancée, Victoria, illustrate her children's book.
In Bellingham, Piper falls immediately in love with the couple's charming hundred-year-old house, partly covered in bizarre murals painted by its former inhabitant--a woman whose restless spirit still hums within the walls. Piper is stunned by Aaron's transformation from broke hipster artist to successful video game designer. And she's unnerved by Victoria: gorgeous, sophisticated, driven--everything Piper feels she isn't. Drowning in heartbreak, consumed by lust, and haunted by the guilty secret she carries about her brother's death, Piper will use her time there to carry out an otherworldly plan to reclaim what she's lost--her art, her future, and maybe even Aaron. Unless her scheme brings everything crashing down.
A darkly funny, achingly wise ghost story about loss, jealousy, love lost and found--and how our deepest fears will haunt us until we finally confront them.
