Song of Belonging - Paperback

by Michelle St Romain (Author)

For fans of Kate Morton, Amy Harmon, and Sally Page comes a multigenerational novel infused with touches of magical realism about a woman's journey to find her place in an uncertain world as she unravels her family's legacy. In 1934, a child's death tears open a family and shakes the small town of Richarme, Louisiana. Recalling her grandmother's hidden gifts that had been shut down decades earlier, Grace Paschal begins writing to her deceased daughter as she navigates grief and guilt for Lily's death, which will haunt their French community for generations.

In 2019, Alice, Grace's great-granddaughter, awakens in her apartment in Berkeley and opens a jewelry box given to her decades earlier upon Grace's death. When she explores its contents, the lines between past and present fade. As she works to meet the demands of her career, her life turns upside-down when new and frequent memories that aren't her own rise to the surface--memories that cause her to question everything about the life she has chosen.

A haunting and magical story of a family with hidden gifts and secrets, Song of Belonging follows Alice as she embarks on a journey to discover the truth about her ancestors and find her place in a lineage of women healers who protect the waters that surround their Louisiana home.

Author Biography

Michelle St. Romain has been writing since she was a child. The coauthor of two poetry books, Promised Fruit and Water's Edge, she holds a BA in English from Loyola University, New Orleans, and an MA in Creative Writing from California State University, Sacramento. She grew up in Louisiana and has lived in California and Hawaii. She leads writing workshops, reads voraciously, and enjoys learning life lessons from two spaniels and a wise, aging cat. She currently lives in Medford, Oregon with her family.