If she never knows which son has drowned, can Olivia convince herself that none of them have? By shielding herself from reality, can she continue to live in a world where all three boys are still alive?
The Ones We Keep is a deeply affecting exploration of grief, denial, and the fragile bonds that tether a family in the wake of unthinkable loss.
During a summer vacation at a quiet Vermont resort, Olivia Somerville returns from a solitary walk to learn that one of her three sons has drowned. But no one can tell her which one. In that suspended moment of dread and disbelief, Olivia makes a single choice—one that will fracture her family and echo through their lives for years to come.
Told with piercing insight and emotional precision, Bobbie Jean Huff's debut is a literary psychological drama that delves into the hidden costs of survival, and the heart's strange calculus when faced with unbearable grief.
Praise for
The Ones We Keep
:
"An elegantly written examination of our ability to control our memories and our grief for the sake of survival." — Jamie Harrison, award-winning author of
The Widow Nash
and
The Center of Everything
"Bobbie Jean Huff thinks us through the unthinkable with grace and unwavering confidence in this riveting story that is wrenching and tender in equal parts, and in the end so deeply satisfying." — Tim Wynne-Jones, author of
The Emperor of Any Place