The Descendants--a "funny, insightful, and unsentimental" (People, 4 stars) novel about a grieving mother and the shocking surprise that may help her reclaim her hold on life.

In the idyllic ski town of Breckenridge, Colorado, Sarah St. John is reeling. Three months ago, her twenty-two-year-old son, Cully, died in an avalanche. Sarah's father, a retiree, tries to distract her from her grief with gadgets from the home shopping channel. Sarah's best friend offers life advice by venting details of her own messy divorce. Even Cully's father reemerges, stirring more emotions and confusion than Sarah needs. But Sarah feels she is facing the stages of grief--the anger, the sadness, the letting go--alone; she desperately wants to hear the swoosh of her son's ski pants, or watch him skateboard past her window. And one day a strange girl arrives on her doorstep. Unexpected and unexplained, she bears a secret from Cully that could change all of their lives forever.