A Question Mark Is Half a Heart

A mysterious envelope threatens the perfect life of a Manhattan photographerin this “warmhearted portrayal of family and forgiveness” (Kirkus).

“Elin is a complex character with a compelling story, and Lundberg avoids the obvious resolutions that readers may expect in favor of a deeper exploration of the meaning of love, forgiveness, and family. This satisfying novel will appeal to fans of Lisa Duffy and Patti Callahan Henry.” —Booklist

How deeply can you love when your heart is full of secrets? 

By age fifty, Elin Boals has created for herself a perfect life: her wildly successful business as Manhattan’s preeminent fashion photographer is flourishing. Her handsome, patient husband is devoted to her; her teenaged daughter, Alice, has been accepted to the ballet academy of her dreams. But then Elin receives an innocuous-looking envelope. Folded inside is a star-chart, with an address written by a familiar hand.

Shaken, Elin begins to have startling flashbacks, to a life very different from the childhood in a Paris bookstore that she has so lovingly recounted to Alice. In these memories, a poverty-stricken little girl cares for her two ragged baby brothers, laughing with her family on the good days, sheltering them from her mother’s sadness and her father’s wrath on the bad days. Elin also remembers vivid walks with a young classmate, Fredrik, whose steadfast friendship and starlit confidences shaped her young life. 

As Elin becomes consumed by these memories, though, her New York life begins to crumble dramatically. Finally, her family’s troubling questions drive her to face, at last, the brutal secret from her past . . .

“Readers will soak up the suspense as they search for the truth alongside Elin.” —Publishers Weekly

“Lundberg’s sophomore work . . . deftly and sensitively tells Elin’s past and present life stories. . . . She builds Elin’s story slowly, but once the OMG moment hits, readers will turn the pages as if they are burning. For fans of narratives about conflicted and tormented heroines trying to make peace with their pasts.” —Library Journal