Sharon Butala: 23 books

Ginny spends her days caring for her mother, Emmaline, and her mother-in-law, Babette, both of whom are elderly and ailing. Though she feels guilty about it, Ginny often finds herself slipping into thoughts of her lover—of the way he kisses and touches her—as a momentary escape from the reality...

A woman examines a box of her mother’s personal photos that has been sitting unopened in her basement since her mother’s death. Now, as she discovers images once meaningful to her mother, she begins to piece together stories of the girl her mother once was and to reveal questions to which she...

Though Jeanne hasn’t seen or spoken to her ex-husband in years, learning of his death brings up memories of their past. Jeanne remembers the happiness of their early days together and how alive they had been, the memories contrasting with the life she is now leading—she is single, out of touch...

As a child, Charlotte spent her summers with her cousins in a house that was the polar opposite of her own. Where her household was organized and ran according to schedule, her cousins lived in a state of constant chaos. For Charlotte, this was both exciting and frightening, especially when her aunt’s...

After winning a literary prize, George Barrett is pulled from obscurity and into the spotlight. When the attention impedes his ability to write, George buys an old house that once belonged to a writer he admires, intending to shut himself away and write in peace. Instead, he finds himself part of...

Though happy in her current marriage, a woman remains unable to truly move past her first marriage—feeling constantly like she is living a double life: one internal and one external. Her struggles with the breakup stem not from the loss of love, but from the one-sidedness of the split, which leaves...

A woman recounts her childhood growing up with four sisters, little money, and parents who fought constantly until her father finally left. Even as adults, the sisters do not know how to cope with harmony, and not one of them is able to fully escape the impact of a childhood lived in discord. Fever...

While on a business trip in Calgary, Cecilia’s husband, Colin, falls suddenly and seriously ill. With Colin in the hospital in a fevered sleep, Cecilia feels stunned and disconnected, and she finds herself striking up a sexual relationship with another guest at the hotel that leaves her questioning...

Fiona Lychenko, now a woman in her late sixties, has spent years researching the death of her high school classmate Zara Stanley, who was brutally murdered at the age of twenty. Determined to solve the crime, something the police weren’t able to do, Fiona interviewed everyone she could in her hometown...