When the Moon Winks

by Hope Andersen

"I am safe. I am loved. I am fine."
She said it until her eyes grew weary and her heart stilled. When Helen Ferry's husband of thirty years leaves her for a younger woman, she reacts as any rational woman by hunting down her high school love interests. Her plan ultimately backfires through a series of both comic and tragic events, and she wonders if she will ever know love again. During this journey, however, Helen begins to transform and learns from someone unexpected that "love is an inside job." After this revelation, Helen reestablishes her relationship with her daughter, learns how to love herself, and creates several meaningful friendships--including one that might blossom into something more... No expectations, no disappointments.

191 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 23, 2019

About the author

Hope Andersen is a graduate of Wellesley College (B.A) and Yale Divinity School (M.A.R.). She wrote her first novel at the age of 60. In her early career as a writer, she studied fiction writing with Andre Dubus and poetry with Derek Walcott, and published both stories and poems. She was awarded the Wellesley College Playwriting Award for her one-act play Room, which was produced at the Lyric Stage, Boston. Ms. Andersen served as a teaching assistant for George Garrett at the Stone Coast Writer’s Conference in Maine. She has worked intermittently over the years as a newspaper critic, a ghostwriter, an editor, a teacher, and a screenwriter. A native New Englander, she now lives in North Carolina with her husband Thom. They have three grown children, two dogs, a cat and a fish. She is currently at work on a young adult novel titled An Accidental Thief.

Reviews

[Stanley B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read, funny with Helen (the protagonist) seeking three of her high school boyfriends forty years after graduation. In the meantime, she reconnects with her daughter while looking for a new relationship after her divorce.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the sequel. I got to meet the author at Art walk in new Bern North Carolina. The main character is very likable, and I found myself cheering her on as she went on her adventures of healing.