Juliette, Rising — Fabienne Marsh

Juliette, a New Yorker transplanted to Portland, Oregon for a teaching job journeys through single parenthood, orphanhood, widowhood, new love, neurotic parents, beloved students, and a life-altering bereavement group. Along the way, Juliette blends her acerbic wit with an admirable willingness to sit in her sadness and we gain entrance to what the other side of grief looks like. Set over the course of several months, and alternating between Juliette's narration, a plot filled with surprises, and letters written to her deceased loved ones, Fabienne Marsh rips open Juliette's heart so we readers might feel less alone. There might not be a cure for sorrow, but there is a salve, and it's JULIETTE, RISING.