The Arrivals — Meg Mitchell Moore

What happens when an empty nest fills up again? A captivating, heartwarming debut about growing up and coming home.

It's the start of summer when Ginny and William Owen's quiet, peaceful life in
Burlington, Vermont, comes to an abrupt halt.

First, their eldest daughter, Lillian, shows up, with her two children in tow, to escape her crumbling marriage. Next, Lillian's younger brother, Stephen, arrives for the weekend, accompanied by his pregnant wife, Jane, an ambitious and misunderstood Wall Street workaholic -- but their visit is extended indefinitely when Jane is put on mandatory bed rest.

And by the time Rachel, the youngest Owen sibling, appears, fleeing the difficulties of her single life in New York City, the senior Owens are once again consumed by the chaos and stress of their early parenting days -- only this time around, their house is filled with grown-up children and their adult problems.

Meg Mitchell Moore's absorbing debut offers acute observations on the workings of a modern family, the challenges of parenting, and the continual struggles of growing up.
By summer's end, the Owen family will have new ideas about loyalty, responsibility, and how you survive the people you love most. The old adage "once a parent, always a parent" has never rung so true.