Nearly everyone in the tiny mountain town of Queduro, New Mexico wishes Rose Devonic would find someplace else to live. A headstrong loner, Rose just couldn’t seem to fit in; but it wasn’t because she didn’t try. In her latest book, Remember Me, Laura Hendrie documents a young woman’s fascinating journey toward finding a place in life and the love and acceptance she has craved for so long.
Rose grew up in Queduro and can’t imagine living anywhere else. Even after her entire family died in a tragic auto accident, Rose hung around, living in her car during the summers and in a lonely cabin at a mostly abandoned motel during the long, cold winters. Like most people in town, Rose makes her living selling her embroidery work to the summer tourists. But she has never shared the passion or felt the pride most other locals consider necessary to be a truly successful trade-embroiderer. She knows there has to be something more to life than threads and needles.
When her mentor, motel owner Birdie Pinkston, is struck down by a debilitating stroke, Rose jumps in to take care of her old friend and former embroidery teacher. But Birdie’s sister Alice, who is beginning to exhibit the preliminary stages of Alzheimer’s disease, comes onto the scene determined to sell the Ten Tribes Motel and drag Birdie off on an African safari. In the ensuing upset, Rose has her hands full just trying to keep everyone from ending up in the loony bin.
Laura Hendrie weaves the threads of her story, alternating the voices of Rose and Frank, to create a masterful story. Her previous novel, Stygo, won numerous awards, including the prestigious Mountains and Plains Regional Bookseller’s Award, and was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award.
