A young Latina woman growing up in Los Angeles struggles with grief after her mother is killed in a car accident.

“A more nimble writer than I would find a subtle way to mark this moment as formative, even primal, the ur-accomplishment that would forever lie beyond the green light at the end of the dock. But I will say only this, openly and bluntly: The sound of my own words issuing from the mouth of a pretty woman brought me ecstasy such as I had not known life might contain.”

A young boy immerses himself in story, trying to find meaning and wholeness after his sister goes missing.

A WWI veteran comes to the Big Sur coast to oversee the construction of an iconic bridge, and strikes up an unlikely friendship with an unusual stranger.

A young writer struggles to find her voice and get her artistic career started, all while having to care for her aging father and her literal clown of a boyfriend.

“Take pleasure in the surprise on people’s faces when you say, ‘My name is Mackenzie Altman.’ When they ask, explain that yes, your mother adopted you from China; no, you don’t know your birth parents; no, you don’t speak the language. Smile politely when they say you have no accent.”