The Girl from Charnelle

It's 1960 in the Panhandle town of Charnelle, Texas-a year and a half since sixteen-year-old Laura Tate's mother boarded a bus and mysteriously disappeared. Assuming responsibility for the Tate household, Laura cares for her father and three brothers and outwardly maintains a sense of calm. But her balance is upset and the repercussions of her family's struggles are revealed when a chance encounter with a married man leads Laura into a complicated relationship for which she is...
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It's 1960 in the Panhandle town of Charnelle, Texas-a year and a half since sixteen-year-old Laura Tate's mother boarded a bus and mysteriously disappeared. Assuming responsibility for the Tate household, Laura cares for her father and three brothers and outwardly maintains a sense of calm. But her balance is upset and the repercussions of her family's struggles are revealed when a chance encounter with a married man leads Laura into a complicated relationship for which she is unprepared. As Kennedy battles Nixon for the White House, Laura must navigate complex emotional terrain and choose whether she, too, will flee Charnelle. A heartfelt portrait of a young woman's reckoning with the paradoxes of love-eloquent, tender, and heart-wrenching-K. L. Cook's unforgettable debut novel marks the arrival of a significant new voice in American fiction.