Brenda Haas

FINDING SUTTON'S CHOICE (back cover copy)

It’s been ten, long years since her abrupt departure, and, with a cryptic voicemail, 28-year-old Pittsburgh writer Charlotte Sutton finds herself back in her hometown of Lakeside, Ohio. Only this time, her estranged father doesn't recognize her, and a surprise half-sibling has taken her place.

Chuck Sutton—newspaper editor, retired baseball player, and the town’s most beloved celebrity—is thought to have Alzheimer’s disease. The community newspaper is also on the verge of closure, and a childhood friend holds a decade-long grudge. Despite all this, there is Lakeside. The quaint waterfront community, flush with ivy-covered cottages and vintage charm, hasn’t changed even as everything else in Charlotte’s life has shifted. She intends to stay only long enough to get her father’s affairs in order.

But, to reconcile her past and unearth family secrets, Charlotte must reconnect with Chuck through his Alzheimer's diagnosis and reevaluate her own misconceptions about growing up in the small Ohio town that still holds her heart.

Finding Sutton’s Choice explores complicated parent-child relationships, failing mental health, and the domino effect family choices have on who we become. It is set in Lakeside, Ohio, on Lake Erie.