Go Ask Fannie — Elisabeth Hyde

A brightly fun and incredibly moving novel about three bickering adult siblings rebuilding their family in the wake of tragedy for readers of The Nest.

When their father invites the three Blair siblings home to his New Hampshire farm for a long weekend, Ruth, George, and Lizzie agree to keep things pleasant. But each one has a secret agenda. And, in true Blair fashion, so does their father, Murray. He thinks that if he can just get Lizzie in a room with Ruth and George, they'll convince her to break up with her much older boyfriend. But his plans, along with those of his children, are derailed when Lizzie turns up with a burnt hand, a damaged family cookbook, and the possibility of criminal charges.

This is not the first time the Blair family has been thrown into chaos. In fact, that cookbook, an old Fannie Farmer's Boston Cooking School edition, is the last remaining artifact from a more idyllic time, a time when they had a mother and an older brother and a public reputation to maintain. A time before the accident. And the handwritten notes inside its pages are a trail leading back to their mother, Lillian, whose own life and all its mysteries become a second narrative alongside that of her family.

With great care and a warmly genuine sense of humor, Elisabeth Hyde crafts two interweaving stories: the life and death of Lillian Blair, and the over-bearing, bickering, but loving children who look for ways to connect with one another in her absence. In both accounts, Hyde reminds readers that families fight both with and for each other.