How had things become so complicated? Charlotte Adamsley thought that booking a writing workshop at their charming Adirondack lodge was perfect for shoring up sagging finances. What's more, the creative vibes might remind her she could be more than bookkeeper, wife, and mother, inspiring her to finish her novel. But only weeks ahead, she discovers the author leading the workshop is a man from her youth. When another figure from the past appears at the workshop, along with aspiring writers, two anxious to pen a who-done-it...will Charlotte be able to salvage her manuscript or marriage by the time the week is over? Will she want to? Peopled with intriguing characters, Blackbird Lodge buzzes with romance, old loves reappearing, betrayals, cruelties, accidents, and surprising insight into the complexity of human relationships and love within and beyond the writing life. Hicks' novel vividly and unflinchingly explores the writing life and the disconnect between expectations and the reality of a life first assessed as a disappointment but actually one that was well-lived. -Nancy Avery Dafoe, recently published memoir Unstuck in Time, A Memoir and Mystery on Loss and Love and contemporary fable/novella Naimah and Ajmal on Newton's Mountain.