Literary Fiction

What She Left Behind

Name: What She Left Behind
Author: Melissa D Brace

by Melissa D Brace

Get the book

Purchasing takes you to the author's retailer (barnesandnoble.com).

Available in paperback. Paperback ISBN 9781067954109.

About the book

What She Left Behind follows estranged sisters Lina and Ava as they reunite after the sudden death of their emotionally abusive mother, Margot, to clean out her dilapidated house. As they sort through decades of accumulated belongings, old journals, and buried mementos, the sisters are forced to confront conflicting memories of their childhood, the silence of their enabler father, and the complicated reality of the generational trauma they both survived.

What to expect

Mood: Thought-provoking
Tropes: Slow burn
Setting and world: Real world, real problems
Pace and shape: Slow and atmospheric
Themes: Family and belonging Grief and healing Identity and self-discovery Secrets and lies

Book details

Author: Melissa D Brace
Genre: Literary Fiction
Formats: Paperback
Paperback ISBN: 9781067954109

Share this book

About the author

Melissa D Brace

I’m a Canadian author writing character-driven stories about family, identity, survival, and the complicated things people carry with them. I’m drawn to the quieter parts of people’s lives, the things that shape them long before anyone else realizes there’s a story there. My writing tends to balance emotional depth with sharp observation, dark humour, and a little messiness. I’m interested in flawed people, complicated relationships, and the moments when someone finally begins to see themselves, their past, or the people around them differently. I’m an independent Canadian author, and I’m particularly interested in telling stories that feel emotionally honest rather than neatly resolved. My goal is to write characters who feel like real people: contradictory, imperfect, sometimes difficult, and ultimately human.

Love finding books like this?

Tick the ARC box and we'll email you new requests from authors looking for readers, on Fridays in weeks when there are some. Each author chooses who gets a copy. You'll get the Shout-Out too: four indie books in every issue.

See the ARC requests open right now