NAL Authors

"An engaging character study…Fans of insightful contemporary fiction will want to join Grace on her journey to Nirvana that Stephanie Gertler portrays so eloquently." Midwest Book Review "A good popular read." Booklist "Emotionally charged…characters come alive with their depth of feeling and true-life experiences" Romantic Times

The Puzzle Bark Tree
Stephanie Gertler

Stephanie Gertler’s first novel, Jimmy’s Girl, was “an assured debut” (Publishers Weekly) and “a perfect reminder of how strong first love can be” (Redbook). With The Puzzle Bark Tree, she plumbs the mysteries of the people we can never truly know—of the incomplete memories we carry with us, and the love that can make us whole…

Grace Hammond Barnett’s happy childhood memories are of times spent with her younger sister, Melanie, and Jemma, the family housekeeper who helped fill the void left by Grace’s detached parents. Now a mother herself, Grace feels trapped in her marriage and haunted by dreams of drowning. Her only anchor is her cherished daughter, Kate.

When her parents die suddenly, Grace is bequeathed a lakeside house she never knew existed. Leaving her city life, she travels to the house for refuge. Here, Grace meets Luke Keegan, who helps her unravel a devastating secret buried in her past…

Accent, June 2003
ISBN #0451208846
384 pages Paperback (reprint)
$6.99