If You Didn't See It Coming — Amanda L. Webster

Three generations of women are ensnared in a vicious cycle that will end in death:MARILOUMarilou appears to have the perfect life: a beautiful new house in the safest neighborhood in town and a recently retired husband whose business successes have supported their family for decades. But Marilou is fed up with her husband and their showy home that she spends all her time cleaning. She thought Jed's retirement would bring them closer together. She thought they would travel and enjoy new experiences together. But it turns out Jed's plan for retirement is for Marilou to continue to take care of him and his house while he plays golf and fiddles with the garden sprinklers. The man can't seem to function without a woman to direct him through life. But Marilou doesn't want to be Jed's mother anymore. And the harder she tries to assert her own independence, the harder Jed tries to hold on to her.CARRIEMarilou's daughter Carrie struggles to support herself and two children on an office job that pays less than a living wage. She works part-time at a hotel on the weekends and gets most of their groceries from the food pantry. It's a rough existence, but a somewhat stable life that Carrie has built for herself and her children from the debris her abusive ex-husband, Shawn left behind. Now, Carrie's fragile equilibrium is about to be upset when Shawn reenters the picture anxious to show his new wife that he's a wonderful father who is simply the victim of a spiteful ex. When a judge orders Carrie to allow Shawn regular visits with their children, Emma and Evan, she fears what he might do to them now that he has been given the opportunity to reassert himself into their lives.EMMAThirteen-year-old Emma doesn't want to have to see her dad. Her younger brother Evan doesn't remember how their father was and can't wait for their first visit, but Emma knows nothing good can come from seeing their dad again after all this time. Emma begins to act out, sneaking around to spend time with an older girl in her low-income housing complex, smoking, and meeting boys on a dating app her mother would never approve of. When a boy starts to show Emma the kind of male attention she's been craving, she agrees to meet up with him only to find out that he is much older than he led her to believe.