From the New York Times bestselling author of Love Walked In and Belong to Me comes a profound and heart-rending story about a horrific tragedy that marks one woman and her hometown and about the explosive secrets that come to light twenty years later.
Ginny Beale is eighteen, irreverent, funny, and brave, with a brother she adores and a circle of friends for whom she would do anything. Because of one terrible night, she loses them all—and her adventurous spirit—seemingly forever. While the town cheers on the high school football team, someone sets a fire in the school’s auditorium. Ginny’s best friend Gray Marsden’s father, a fire fighter, dies in the blaze.
While many in the town believe a notoriously troubled local teen set the fire, Ginny makes a shattering discovery that casts blame on the person she trusts most in the world. Ginny tells no one, but the secret isolates her, looming between her and her friends and ruining their friendship.
Over the next two decades, Ginny puts aside her wanderlust and her dreams. She marries a quiet man after college, and they move back to her hometown, where she raises their daughter, Avery, and cares for her tyrannical, ailing mother, Adela. She distances herself from the past and from nearly everyone she knew. But when Ginny’s husband, Harris, becomes embroiled in a scandal, her carefully controlled life crumbles, and, just when Ginny believes she is regaining her bearings, the secret she’s kept for twenty years emerges and threatens to destroy her hopes for the future.
With the help of fifteen-year-old Avery and of friends both old and new, Ginny must summon the courage to confront old lies and hard truths and to free herself and the people she loves from the mistakes and regrets that have burdened them for so long.
Author Info
Marisa de los Santos is a New York Times bestselling author and award-winning poet with a PhD in literature and creative writing. She lives in Wilmington, Delaware, with her family.
Reviews
“Written in gorgeous prose, I'd Give Anything is a novel about the mistakes we make, and how we can confront them and move forward.” — Popsugar
"With Marisa de los Santos’ beautiful descriptions of the settings and her vivid characters who, you’ll feel, are just like your friends growing up, I’d Give Anything is a piece of art. . . . This book is a wonderful read that will have you falling in love with its characters.” — Manhattan Book Review
“De los Santos’s heartfelt latest illustrates how tragedy can be overcome by love, honesty, and forgiveness. . . . Thoughtful musings, engaging dialogue, and ironic wit . . . add to the drama.” — Publishers Weekly
“As fans know, de los Santos uses exquisitely luxurious, poetic writing to tell her characters’ stories. She knows exactly where she’s going and how and when to get there. The rhythm of the prose will more than please those who love the thoughtful, precise language of Anne Tyler and Joshilyn Jackson.” — Booklist
"There’s nothing that Marisa de los Santos writes that I won’t read. Her writing is warm and accessible, like open arms welcoming us into the story. . . . In true Marisa de los Santos fashion, she weaves a compelling, wisely plotted story with characters you want to hang out with and have as friends. She addresses weighty issues with beautiful prose." — Bookreporter.com
"Smart prose and sharply drawn characters set this domestic drama apart." — Library Journal
"An engaging story about regrets and second chances." — People
“With her signature warmth and wisdom, [de los Santos] explores the ripple effects of that night on Ginny's life. . . . This story, in true de los Santos fashion, is full of hope and people who are willing to try.” — Shelf Awareness
"A luminous exploration of wanderlust, friendship, and fire." — Entertainment Weekly
