Isabelle Day Refuses to Die of a Broken Heart - Hardcover

In Milwaukee, Isabelle Day had a house. And she had a father. This year, on Halloween, she has half of a house in Minneapolis, a mother at least as sad as she is, and a loss that&;s too hard to think&;let alone talk&;about. It&;s the Midwest in the early 1960s, and dads just don&;t die . . . like that.

Hovering over Isabelle&;s new world are the duplex&;s too-attentive landladies, Miss Flora (&;a lovely dried flower&;) and her sister Miss Dora (&;grim as roadkill&;), who dwell in a sea of memories and doilies; the gleefully demonic Sister Mary Mercy, who rules a school awash in cigarette smoke; and classmates steady Margaret and edgy Grace, who hold out some hope of friendship. As Isabelle&;s first tentative steps carry her through unfamiliar territory&;classroom debacles and misadventures at home and beyond, time trapped in a storm-tossed cemetery and investigating an inhospitable hospital&;she begins to discover that, when it comes to pain and loss, she might actually be in good company.

In light of the elderly sisters&; lives, Grace and Margaret&;s friendship, and her father&;s memory, she just might find the heart and humor to save herself. With characteristic sensitivity and wit, Jane St. Anthony reveals how a girl&;s life clouded with grief can also hold a world of promise.