Inside a Benedictine monastery on Egret Island, off the South Carolina coast, is a beautiful and mysterious chair ornately carved with mermaids and dedicated to a saint who, legend claims, was a mermaid before her conversion. It is to Egret Island that Jessie Sullivan, a woman whose life has been constrained by circumstances, to care for her mother, who hasn't yet recovered from Jessie's father's death 33 years before. As Jessie contemplates the separation...

Rufus McSherry, a handsome painter, arrives in a New Jersey town at the behest of Bartolomeo di Crespi, an interior decorator assigned to Our Lady of Fatima Church, and breathes new life into the old church as well as the women of the town.

"This spellbinding novel by bestselling author Ann Napolitano is a poignant reminder of how connected we are to those we love, even when we cannot find the words to say it. The unforgettable story of three generations of an Irish American family, Within Arm's Reach is another rich and deeply satisfying novel from the author who captured the many dimensions of grief in Dear Edward and the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood in Hello Beautiful"--

Overcome by spiritual restlessness as her children gain independence, a devout Catholic adopts a child from Eastern Europe whose complicated needs estrange the woman from her biological children.