Introduction

A must-read for fans of character-driven suspense like Liz Moore’s Long Bright River and A. J. Finn’s The Woman in the Window, One Beautiful Year of Normal is a gripping psychological thriller about a woman’s dangerous decision to unearth her family’s darkest secrets.

Some memories protect you. Others imprison you.

When August Caine receives a phone call from a Savannah attorney, she is blindsided by the news—her Aunt Helen has passed away. But how can that be, when August’s mother insisted Helen died in a car accident fifteen years ago? Determined to uncover the truth, August returns to the deep South, where the ghosts of her past—both real and imagined—await her.

Plagued by a memory splintered by her father’s unsolved murder when she was a child and further tangled by psychiatric treatments for the debilitating depression she struggles with, August realizes her survival depends on unraveling the mystery surrounding her father’s death. This means returning to the one safe place she remembers from the childhood she has mostly locked away inside her mind: Aunt Helen’s home, and the ghost tours they created together.

A chilling exploration of mental illness, mother-daughter bonds, and generational secrets, One Beautiful Year of Normal follows August as she pieces together the long-buried truths that shaped her family’s tragic past and confronts the question that has haunted her for years: Can the truth set her free, or will it unravel everything she thought she knew?

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Discussion Questions

From the author's website--

1. How did the book’s setting affect the story?
2. If you could ask the author one question what would it be?
3. What do you think the conflicting timelines for when Helen tracked August down means?
4. Which character do you relate to most and why?
5. August misinterpreted something she saw on her eighth birthday. If this had not been the case, what do you think she would have done differently in the years that followed?
6. Did your feelings about any of the characters change as the story progressed?
7. How did you feel about the ending?
8. Did your feelings about the villain in the story change by the end. If so, why.
9. What loose ends were left that you would have liked answered?
10. Did this book remind you of any similar ones?
11. Do you have a favorite quote from the book?
12. What do you think the main theme or message of the story was?
13. What character did you find the most complex or intriguing?
14. What do you think happens to the protagonist after the story ends?
15. How would you describe the book in one sentence?
16. How does the book’s title relate to book’s content?

Weblinks

»	Kirkus Review of book "xA standout Southern family mystery filled with lush settings, dazzling characters, and chilling surprises."--Kirkus
»	Clarion review
»	Author Q&A
»	Author's website

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