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  • Published: 31 March 2020
  • ISBN: 9781496710079
  • Imprint: Kensington
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 336
  • RRP: $34.00

Forgiveness Road

A Powerful Novel of Compelling Historical Fiction




On a hot, humid July morning, sixteen-year-old Cissy Pickering calmly and deliberately shoots her father in the back.

To their Mississippi community, the death of well-regarded attorney Richard Pickering is a fascinating scandal. To Cissy's distraught mother, Caroline, it's an unforgivable crime. But in Cissy's troubled mind, killing her father was the only way she knew to save the two people she loves most in the world. For years, Cissy has endured a devil's bargain with her father, hoping that he would leave her younger sisters alone if she kept his abuse to herself. When that thin trust shattered, she saw no other choice.

Janelle Clayton, the family's matriarch, has kept her distance from her daughter, Caroline--a fact she now regrets--yet she hopes to do right by her granddaughter. Cissy has always been an unusual girl, given to compulsive counting and list-making, but Janelle believes her implicitly. When Cissy is remanded to the Greater Mississippi State Hospital, a caring psychiatrist tries to help, yet new revelations drive Cissy to retreat even further from reality. It will fall to Janelle, despite her own failing health, to become Cissy's advocate and rescuer. And over the course of an unlikely road trip, Janelle and Cissy will confront the truths they've hidden from the world and themselves, finding courage, deep-rooted resilience, and a bond tender and tough enough to transform them both.

From the acclaimed author whose historical fiction has been compared to The Help, comes a powerful and ultimately uplifting novel that tells the story of three generations of women in 1970s Mississippi after their lives are thrown into upheaval when a dark secret is brutally exposed . . .
 
On a hot, humid July morning, sixteen-year-old Cissy Pickering calmly and deliberately shoots her father in the back.
 
To their Mississippi community, the death of well-regarded attorney Richard Pickering is a fascinating scandal. To Cissy’s distraught mother, Caroline, it’s an unforgivable crime. But in Cissy’s troubled mind, it was the only way she knew to save her younger sisters, the two people she loves most in the world.
 
Janelle Clayton, the family’s matriarch, has kept her distance from her daughter, Caroline—a fact she now regrets—yet she hopes to do right by her granddaughter, whom she believes implicitly. When Cissy is remanded to the Greater Mississippi State Hospital, new revelations drive her to retreat from reality. It will fall to Janelle to become Cissy’s advocate and rescuer. And over the course of an unlikely road trip, Janelle and Cissy will confront the truths they’ve hidden from the world and themselves—finding courage, resilience, and a bond tender and tough enough to transform them both.
 
“Mikulencak tackles the complex ramifications of abuse, from unwanted notoriety to complex questions of who is responsible, with grace and empathy. . . . Forgiveness Road is haunting and poignant.”
—Booklist

  • Published: 31 March 2020
  • ISBN: 9781496710079
  • Imprint: Kensington
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 336
  • RRP: $34.00

Praise for Forgiveness Road

Praise for Mandy Mikulencak

"Mikulencak tackles the complex ramifications of abuse, from unwanted notoriety to complex questions of who is responsible, with grace and empathy. From the courtroom to a mental hospital and, finally, to an unlikely trip for grandmother and granddaughter, Forgiveness Road is haunting and poignant." - Booklist on Forgiveness Road

"That the author can move easily between markets and subject matter is a testament to her talent and broad perspective on life. Fortunately for all of us, she has already begun her next novel." - The Durango Telegraph on The Last Supper

"The Last Suppers held me riveted from the first page to the last, a gorgeous novel that finds beauty in the most unlikely of places. This story has the social conscience of The Help, the unflinching honesty of The Shawshank Redemption, and a wholly original heroine whose humanity will touch your heart as she cooks her way to redemption." --Susan Wiggs, #1 New York Times
bestselling author on The Last Suppers

"A haunting study of race relations, compassion, and mystery. A must read." --Library Journal STARRED REVIEW for The Last Suppers